Issei and the Milky Girl Mauo
by Filing
Summary: A perverted teenager who lusts for breast, and a Milky Girl Mauo, one of the four people that rule the Underworld. The makings of your average cheesy, fanfiction. Just how will these two fall in love? And how far would they go for one another? Strong Issei! OOC Issei! Rated M for safety! AU! Slow Burn Romance!
1. Redemption & Realization - revised

**Warning if you are a fan of the Rias x Issei relationship this may not be the** fan fic **for you!**

Disclaimer! No matter how hard I wish I do not own High School DxD in any way, shape, or form!

" " – Somebody Talking

' ' – Somebody Thinking

" " – Flashback

 **" " – Ddraig Talking**

 **' ' – Ddraig Thinking**

 **[ ] – Boosted Gear**

Issei sat there in his room cold and alone. Sobbing as he could only think about where he went wrong. He had failed his master, Buchou. If only he were stronger, maybe he would have been able to save her from Riser Phenix. However, even though he failed his master and she was doomed to live a life she didn't want, that was not the main reason why he was sobbing. He was sobbing because he didn't care. After everything she did for him, she reincarnated him into a devil so he could continue living, she brought Asia back from the dead allowing him and her to be together forever, she gave him a better life.

And still, after all that he didn't care that she was doomed to live a life she didn't want to. 'What is wrong with me? She saved me and gave me a better life. Why don't I care? Am I without a soul or am I to ignorant to see all she has done for me?' As Issei was sitting on his bed sobbing a crimson light began to appear in his room.

From the crimson light he heard a vaguely familiar voice. "Hyoudou Issei-sama." Issei looked over and stared, as a silver haired beauty appeared through a magic circle. "Grayfia-san?"

"Hyoudou Issei-sama. I'm surprised you are even able to stand after all that. It was quite the beating you took after all." She said while looking at Issei's confused face.

"G-Grayfia-san. Do you know what happened? The last I can remember is tears falling on me then blacking out."

"Rias resigned from the match to save your life as Riser was going to kill you. You never gave up though, you kept getting up time and time again. You put up a good fight." Grayfia had said without changing the emotion on her face in the slightest bit.

"So, I failed her after all. I'm sorry Buchou. I'm so sorry." Issei mumbled while tears poured down his cheeks. Issei not knowing what to do looked at Grayfia with a depressed face. "What happens know? Is Buchou gone forever now? Will we ever get to see her again?"

"Now, Rias will become the bride of Riser Phenix. As for will you ever see her again, yes. She is still your King and will stay that way. However, Hyoudou Issei-sama. I have a message for you."

"A-a message? From who?" Issei said wondering who the message could be from? 'Has Rias sent me a message cursing me for not being able to save her? Even if it is that, I deserve it. I failed my master, there is no punishment that can make up for that.'

 **"Come on partner. You can't beat yourself up about this situation. There is nothing you could have done. You have only been a devil for a short amount with next to no fighting experience."** A voice from within Issei's subconscious began to speak scaring Issei. 'What was that? Who was that? Am I going insane?' Issei thought franticly as he was looking around the room.

 **"Don't act like you don't know who I am! After all, this isn't my first time speaking to you."** The voice said again in his head. 'Oh, it's you Ddraig. I have to be honest, it's still hard to remember there is a dragon inside of me that can talk to me at any moment.' Issei responded as he let out a chuckle.

Grayfia started to look at Issei very confused to why he was looking around the room and chuckling. Issei noticed her confused look and asked Grayfia. "Anyways, what's the message for me Grayfia-san? Is it from Buchou?"

"No. it is from Sirzechs." Grayfia responded with a serious look. "Sirzechs? Wait what? Why would he have a message for me?" Issei asked questioning why Sirzechs, the devil king of the underworld sent him a message.

"It is about Rias. His message says, "If you want to save my sister Issei. You better be prepared to fight." Grayfia said while pulling a piece of paper out with markings on it.

"Save his sister? W-what's that piece of paper?" 'Save Buchou? Maybe if I save her I can try and make up for failing her. But afterwords, I must get stronger to protect Buchou and the rest of my comrades.' Issei thought to himself while making a promise to himself to get stronger to protect Rias. Without realizing, this new promise put Rias on a highway straight to the friend zone.

"This paper will teleport you to the underworld. Were you can crash the party and save Rias." When Issei heard this his face lit up as he saw an opportunity to make up for his mistakes. "I have to go now. I am sorry for interrupting you I hope you can forgive me and I trust you will make the right decision Hyoudou Issei-sama." After saying that Grayfia left in the same transportation circle as before.

Issei sat there staring at the piece of paper putting himself through a dilemma. 'Do I try and save her? If I save her I can make up for failing her, however if I go there and fail her again I will no doubt be killed but also, I will have failed her even more. No. I must go! Even if it's a near impossible chance of saving her this is my only chance, and I must seize this opportunity.' After solving his dilemma, he could hear the voice inside of his head again.

 **"Partner, I will have you know there is a way you can put up a good fight with Riser Phenix, however, a worthy sacrifice must be made in return for power. That is the law of equivalent exchange after all."** After hearing this Issei knew exactly what Ddraig meant and formulated a plan in his head. "Ddraig! We need to make a deal!" After saying this and sealing the deal Issei used the paper to teleport to the underworld. Not only minutes later his door opened as Asia stood there holding a bowl of water. After seeing that Issei was gone she started to panic, dropping the water leaving Asia wondering where Issei had gone off too. Or possibly who had taken him.

* * *

Issei had just used the paper Grayfia gave him to teleport to the underworld. As the light from the magic circle slowly started to slowly dissipate Issei noticed he was standing in a long hallway, in what seemed to be the inside of a castle. As Issei started running down the hallway, he could start to see a door in the distance. However, the door was guarded by guards and Issei had no idea how strong they were. Activating his Boosted Gear, he closed the distance between him and the guards in a matter of seconds. Overestimating the guards, he knocked each one unconscious with one punch each. As Issei stared at the door to what he believed to be the place he would save Rias from, he mumbled a few words aloud. "Buchou, I'm coming."

Issei then punched the door open. As everyone was staring at him he scanned across the room until he found crimson red hair. The crimson hair belonging to his master.

"Buchou!" Issei yelled while staring at Rias.

"Issei?"

As everyone in the crowd started wondering what was going on they looked at Riser Phenix and began to question him. "Lord Riser what is the meaning of this?" Riser couldn't do anything but stare in shock, as he did not expect the pawn he nearly killed to appear through the door of his home and try to take the woman he was going to take hand in marriage. As everyone was questioning Riser and demanded to know what was going on, a voice was heard as a crimson haired man resembling Rias stepped forward and said, "It's just a little entertainment I arranged." This man was none other than Sirzechs Lucifer, the Lucifer mauo. As everyone stared at the devil king Lucifer, Riser question him.

"What do you mean entertainment, my lord?" Riser questioned

"I watched the game Riser and I must say, I was underwhelmed. Despite your considerable odds you were almost taken down by my sister, a first-time competitor and her pawn." Sirzechs said with an unimpressed face.

"It is the final result that matters my lord." Riser scoffed at Sirzechs.

"Maybe in the past, but the games are not as important as they used to be. With that being said, I would like to give you a second chance." Sirzechs proposed.

"A second chance? What do you mean a second chance?"

"Phenix versus dragon, a good fight I like to think. So, tell me, do you accept?"

"I guess if the devil king requests of it I have no choice." Riser said.

"What about you dragon? Do you accept the battle?" Sirzechs questioned Issei.

"Hell yeah I do." Issei replied without hesitation.

"Very well. Tell me dragon, if you win what would you like in compensation?"

"Compensation? A prize for a low-class devil? Are you kidding me?" The crowd argued with Sirzechs.

"He is going through the trouble of this, so he will receive compensation if he wins. So tell me, would you like money, a maiden of beauty? Ask and you shall receive." Sirzechs asked Issei.

"There's only one thing I want. Rias Gremory!" Issei responded again without hesitation.

"Very well." With the conversation being over Issei and Riser were teleported to an alternate space with the others on the sides watching as spectators of the match. As Riser activated his flaming wings Issei activated his sacred gear and started to boost.

"Begin" the referee said while they both darted at each other. They exchanged fist when Issei jumped back and started to rant. "I don't have talent with swords like Kiba! And I'm not a genius like Akeno. I don't have crazy strength like Koneko, nor do I have healing powers like Asia, but I promise you Riser! I will take you down because there is one thing I have a whole lot of! Heart!

 **[Welsh Dragon! Over Booster!]**

As a red aura started surrounding Issei it started to take the form of armor and started to materialize.

"This is the red emperors power! Try as you might, you cannot stop me!"

As Issei activate the Welsh Dragon Over Booster, he remembered what Ddraig said when he made his deal with him. **"I accept your sacrifice and will grant you a power worthy of it,** **however, I will only give you to the count of 10! Any longer and your body will not survive!"** Remembering that he heard Ddraig's voice in his head starting to count

 **10!**

Issei leapt at Riser getting ready to punch him however Riser got out of the way knowing the punch would do a lot of damage even with Riser's immortality. Issei was sent flying but used the boosters on his back to regain his balance.

 **9!**

After regaining his balance, Issei aimed his arm at Riser and formed a tiny red ball and punched it sending a blast at Riser. "Dragon shot!" The blast was too fast for Riser to react and was hit by it head on. After the blast faded he could see half of Riser's skin was melted off and even showing bone at some parts. As Riser's body started healing Issei leapt towards Riser again.

 **8!**

Issei hit Riser down tumbling towards the ground crashing into the concrete floor. However, Issei started to puke blood from out of his mouth cause from the strain on his body because of the scale male. Issei then started ranting again. "I don't care what pain I have to endure. I will make up for failing Buchou and I will save her. Even if it takes up every last bit of my life force, I will save her!" Because of Issei's rant time was wasted. Time that Issei didn't have.

 **5!**

As Issei notice he was wasting time he started to fly down when his armor broke and disappeared!

"Ddraig! You said I would have 10 seconds, that wasn't 10 seconds!"

 **"Sorry partner. Your body could not take** anymore **. If I would have allowed you to keep wearing it, you would have died."**

Issei realizing that his plan had gone down the drain started mumbling again. "It's because I'm not strong enough again. It's always like this. Why? Why do I have to be such a pathetic weakli-" In the middle of ranting Issei had been picked up by Riser whose body had healed fully. As Issei looked at Riser with the same eyes that got him almost killed before Riser punched him.

"Those same eyes again Hyoudou! You idiot! You should have never gotten in between the affairs of the devils! And now you're going to die!" Riser screamed as his flaming wings grew bigger. The situation was similar to the one in the rating game. Issei defenseless, unable to fight, and on the verge of death.

"This time Rias won't be able to intervein and save your life. I'm going to make sure you're dead this time Hyoudou." Riser continued to beat Issei's face to a bloody pulp to the point where you can't even recognize it anymore. The light in Issei's eyes started to fade as he could only think to himself. 'Is this my punishment. For failing Buchou and thinking I was some kind of hero. I guess I lived a good life. I'm sorry Buchou, Asia, Kiba, Akeno, Mom, Dad. But it looks like this is the end.' However, an image flickered into his mind. It was Rias crying as she stopped Riser from killing him. It was the memory of when Rias saved him in the rating game. 'I never meant to make you cry Buchou. I'm such a pathetic servant. I'm sorry.' Suddenly, Riser started to see Issei's lips move and heard him say one word.

"No!"

"You're still alive! You idiot! What does it take to kill you!"

"No!" Issei said again.

"No! No! No! No!" Issei repeated himself.

Somehow Issei's face started to heal and a very strong red aura started to come off of his body. What this power is Issei didn't know but he wasn't going to deny it.

"No!"

"No!"

"I will not let you take her away from me!" Issei screamed as the red aura around his body grew stronger even destroying the hand Riser was using to hold onto Issei. The aura started to develop into the shape of armor.

 **[Welsh Dragon! Balance Breaker]**

Suddenly, out of nowhere to the surprise to everyone, even Ddraig, Issei pulled out the balance breaker of the boosted gear. Two wings appeared from his back and his armor grew thicker than the Over Booster's scale male. Issei leapt forward and gave Riser a punch to the gut and started to form a dragon shot. **[Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost][Welsh Dragon, Dragon Shot! Boosted Version!]**

The dragon shot that Issei shot consumed Riser's whole body except for his head. Riser's body started to heal. Issei waited and let it, as he wanted to beat Riser to a pulp multiple times over. However, Riser's stamina was so drained that he knew he wouldn't be able to heal for much longer. Issei knowing this boosted several times again!

 **[Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost] [Boost]**

"Please no. Don't do this! This is important for the future of all devils!" Riser pleaded

"I thought I already got the picture across! I don't care what could benefit from this. I am not going to let you take my master away from me!"

"Suck on this scumbag!" Issei yelled in rage

After boosting Issei shoved his fist into Riser's stomach and twisting it. After removing his fist from Riser's stomach Riser vomited an abundant amount of blood and collapsed to his knees. As Issei leapt forward again to kill Riser he saw a blonde hair little girl with drill like hair teleport in front of him.

"Don't hurt him" The girl screamed as she shielded him from Issei. Issei stopped and started to talk to the girl.

"I'd move out of the way if I were you little girl. Unless you want to be next." Issei said with a smirk on his face.

* * *

With that, the battle was over and the ground started to crack and disappear. As Issei was falling he was teleported back to the Phenix castle, but this time outside of it with the rest of the occult research club plus Grayfia and Sirzechs. As everyone was congratulating Issei on beating Riser the devil rumored to be immortal Sirzechs took out a piece of paper similar looking to the one Issei used to teleport here. However, when he used it a griffin was summoned.

"W-what is that?" Issei asked concerned. The animal was a gray color with a eagle like beak, 4 legs with 3 talons on each leg, 2 wings, and a tail. It was quite scary looking but also very cool.

"It's a griffin" Grayfia responded.

"Get on." Rias said to Issei asking him to take a ride on the griffin with her.

"Ummmm… Really? Me?"

"Yes, please." Rias asked while blushing.

"Umm ok I guess. If I don't die on this thing I'll meet you guys back at the ORC."

As the griffin took off and was high in the sky Issei noticed Rias was gazing at him longingly. It was at that moment he realized it. That same feeling from earlier when he was sitting on his bed sobbing. Not because he failed Rias but because, he didn't care.

"Silly boy you almo-"Rias was starting to say but was cut off by Issei mid-sentence.

"I'm sorry Buchou" Issei said with a depressed face once again.

"For what Issei? What could you possibly be sorry for?" Rias asked Issei with a concerned face.

"I just thought that I would feel different. I thought I would feel different if I saved you from Riser."

"Feel different? What do you mean feel different Issei?" Rias asked feeling really concerned and nervous.

"I just thought that if I save you from Riser, I would start to care."

"Care? What do you mean care Issei? Your starting to make me worry."

"About everything, at least anything. I realized it after we lost the rating game that I didn't care. And not just the rating game, but everything. I noticed there was nothing I cared about. I thought saving you would change that. But, I feel the same as before." Issei said, noticing that after hearing that Rias got very depressed.

"Oh, I see."

That's all that Rias said as they rode the griffin all the way back to the regular world in silence. Issei noticed that during the ride after he said he didn't care she started to cry but Issei thought it would be better to leave her alone.


	2. The Milky Girl - revised

Disclaimer! No matter how hard I wish I do not own High School DxD in any way, shape, or form!

" " – Somebody Talking

' ' – Somebody Thinking

" " – _Flashback_

" " – **Ddraig Talking**

' ' – **Ddraig Thinking**

 **[ ] – Boosted Gear**

* * *

Issei and Rias had just gotten back from the underworld riding the griffin which overall, was a fun ride and cool as he could see a lot of the Underworld. Issei was staring at his shaky hands thinking about him not feeling anything at all. 'I wonder if I'll ever change. Or I am cursed to live a life not caring about anything the rest of my life.' Rias, who was still saddened about Issei's feeling had gotten off the griffin and started to talk to Issei.

"Issei. We should get going. The others are expecting us at the ORC." Rias turned away as tears again started to form in her eyes and falling down her cheeks.

"Oh crap! I never told Asia I was leaving to the underworld! She probably thought I was kidnapped and is waiting for the ransom. Buchou, you go ahead, I need to go get Asia. I'll meet you at the ORC." Issei said panicking as he knew that Asia was sitting at his home crying and most likely hurting herself as she prayed that he was ok.

"Ok. Don't take too long though." Rias said as she started walking to the ORC.

Back at Issei's home he could hear someone talking to themselves.

"Please lord, please tell me that Iss- Ahh" In the middle of Asia's prayer she was cut off by the pain that felt like a knife driving into Asia's skull.

"Why do you hate me!" Asia pleaded while rubbing her head. 'Issei where have you gone. And are you ever coming back.' Asia thought to herself as she began to weep.

"Uh Asia." A voice said while her doored opened a little bit. "Are you awake Asia?" Opening the door the rest of the way he saw Asia staring at him as she started crying harder then before and leapt at him and jumped into his arms.

"Issei, I thought something had happened to you. I was so worried, if anything happened to you I don't know what I would have done. Please, don't leave me like that ever again." Asia pleaded while stuffing her face into Issei's chest and latching onto him like a leech.

"I went to the underworld to save Buchou. I had to fight Riser but, I got her back. Buchou is back at the ORC waiting for us with the others. We don't want to keep them waiting so come on let's go." Issei said but Asia made no move to unlatch herself from Issei. Instead she stayed there and sobbed. Issei could feel her cold tears starting to drench his shirt.

"I'm sorry that I worried you Asia. I promise I will never do that again." After hearing this Asia looked up at Issei with tearful eyes. Issei could tell she just wanted to stay where she was with Issei for as long as she could.

"Asia, you have to let go sometime, Buchou and the others are still waiting for us." Issei said as he could feel Asia starting to loosen her grip.

"I promise when we get back, you can hug onto me for as long as you want to." Hearing those words Asia released her grip, wiped the tears on her cheeks off, and started talking to Issei.

"Ok. But, first you should change your shirt. I got this one sort of.… wet." Asia said while chuckling and headed toward the front door.

"I'll wait for you at the front door." After Issei went to his room and got a new shirt as Asia's tears drenched his old he went to the front door. He and Asia started heading toward the ORC in the middle of the night.

* * *

"Cut. Everybody take 10." A director yelled to all of his crew and actors. The director was filming a tv show for the underworld called, _**Magical Levia-Tan**_ **.** This tv show starred one of the four mauos, Leviathan, as she played the role of Magical Levia-Tan. As she went over to grab something to eat she noticed that when she went over there everybody fled, as if she was a lion hunting her prey and they were gazelles. 'Why does everybody run away from me and treat like I am a burden. My whole life everybody treated me like a burden, even my own parent.'

" _I simply can no longer teach this girl anymore. She cannot do water magic everything she touches freezes solid." A man said while looking at a little girl in disgust._

" _What do you mean she cannot perform water magic. Water magic is what the Sitri's specialize in." A man said while starting to get angered. The little girl looked at the man and began to speak._

" _Papa, whenever I touch anything with liquid inside, it freezes instantly and I can't control it." The girl said as she touched her father's coffee and it froze solid. The man looking at the frozen coffee and then at the girl in disappointment began to talk._

" _You cannot become the heir to the Sitri's if you cannot do water magic. Please get her out of here, I cannot bring myself to look at her." The man said with disgust on his face. The little girl not knowing what she had done wrong began to sob and as she sobbed all the tears that touched her skin froze and fell of her face. She then started to think that she was a burden on everyone she had met. The girl, who had a naturally big aura was stopped while walking out by a soft voice._

" _Wait my daughter. You have more potential than both me and your father combined. You must grow strong to show the Sitri household that Ice Magic is just as strong as water." A woman said while looking at the little girl._

" _However, we cannot train you. So, we will have to send you to a branch family and they will train you." The woman said again as the little girls' face changed. Realizing that she wasn't going to be able to see her family because she was being sent away made her start to cry again. 'I'm a burden, even to my own parents. My own parents don't even want me around. It's not my fault I have can't control my magic.' The girl thought as the frozen tears fell off of her face._

"Alright breaks over! Let's get back to work people!" The direct said pulling Leviathan back to reality and out of her tragic past.

* * *

Issei was sitting in his room doing his homework when he heard a loud knock at his door and yelling from two different people.

"Yo Issei! Come out here!"

"Yea get your stupid ass out here Issei!"

Two guys said outside Issei's door, waiting for Issei to come down and open it. Issei knew exactly who the people were that were standing outside his house currently. They were his two best buds Matsuda and Motohama. He walked to the front door and opened it revealing the two perverted friends.

"Matsuda, Motohama, what are you two doing here?" Issei asked wondering if they were here to give him another beat down.

"Have you forgotten already! The anime convention is today!" Matsuda said with a little bit of anger in his voice.

"WHAT! That's today! I need to get ready or we're going to miss it!" Issei said as he ran to his room and got properly dressed. After Issei got dressed the perverted trio were on their way to the anime convention. When Issei, Motohama, and Matsuda arrived at the convention they saw a man with yellow-goldish like hair posing with a purple cat thing in a picture.

"Weirdos, whoever came up with that idea has a really creative mind." Motohama said while looking at the two people posing. Issei then noticed a large group of people surrounding one area, and for some reason Issei could feel a strong aura coming from over there. 'I wonder who it is over there. Whoever it is, is really strong that much I can tell.' Issei thought to himself as she started walking over to where the crowd was, leaving Matsuda and Motohama behind. However, what he wasn't expecting the aura to come from was a girl cosplayer cosplaying as Magical Girl from _**Magical Girl Milky Spiral Seven.**_

"What in the world." Issei said while looking at the Milky Girl. The Girl was wearing the same outfit as Magical girl from _Magical Girl Milky Spiral Seven_ , the girl had black hair in two pigtail, a pink wand with a star at the end and what Issei noticed almost immediately her breast were a very respectable size. As the girl was looking at the crowd she caught a glimpse of Issei and made a surprised face. Issei noticed she was looking at him and started to think. 'Do I know her? She's looking at me like she knows me.'

"Hey! Sekiryuutei!" The girl yelled towards Issei. 'What she does know me? Who is she?" Issei began to think as he did not recognize her, but she recognized him. Looking at Issei in surprise the cosplayer ran over to him and gave him a hug.

"Sekiryuutei! What are you doing here? Did you here I was going to be here and came?" The cosplayer said however, Issei was confused and didn't know who she was. But he didn't care because his mind was numb from her breast rubbing against his body.

"Ummmm. This is great and all but uhhh. Who are you?" Issei question as he enjoyed the feeling of her breast pressing against his body. Even though it was through clothing Issei could tell that they were about the same size as Akeno's breast but with a softer touch.

"Oh, that's right I never introduced myself. My name is Serafall Leviathan, but you can call me, Lil-Levith." She said while putting two fingers up to her eye making a weird sign.

"W-Wait Leviathan? L-like devil king Leviathan?" Issei said concerned. Was he hugging and talking formally to a mauo?

"Yep that's right! I'm the devil king Leviathan!" She said and Issei's face changed into worry as he was just hugging a mauo. The highest level of the devils and the people who represent the devils. 'Well, I guess that would explain why her aura is so strong. But never mind that, Sirzechs is going to kill me when he finds out I hugged a mauo!'

"U-Uh I'm sorry for hugging you. Please forgive me." Issei said while bowing and sweating nervously.

"So, how did you know who I was again mauo-sama?"

"Oh, I saw your fight with Riser. As well did the other devil kings. I speak for all of us when I say we were impressed with your abilities." Issei started to wonder why all the mauos watched his fight with Riser Phenix. 'Hmmmm they saw my fight with Riser? Was that fight so interesting that all the mauos watched it and were impressed?' Issei though when Serafall continued.

"Anyways, I hugged you because I wanted to thank you for saving So-Chan's friend." Serafall said confusing Issei. 'So-chan? Who is So-chan? Wait, no is she talking about Sona-kaichou?'

"W-Wait are you talking about Sona-kaichou?" Issei asked peeking his interest.

"Yep. So-chan is my sister! Thank you Sekiryuutei for saving her friend!" Serafall said as Issei's facial expression changed completely finding out that Sona's sister was a mauo!

"Uhhhh y-your welcome I guess. Wait. Did you just say sister? You're Sona-kaichou sister?" Issei responded knowing that Sona would kill him if she found out the way that Issei looked at Serafall.

"Yep, that's right! Anyways, I'm hungry. Do you want to grab a bite to eat with me Sekiryuutei?" Serafall asked. Hearing that Issei began to think again. 'Forget Sirzechs killing me for knowing I hugged Serafall. What is he going to do if he finds out we went on a lunch date!'

"U-Uhh I guess if a devil king requests of it I can't deny it." Issei replied thinking he handled the situation well.

"No!" Serafall exclaimed.

"No? No what?" Issei asked feeling very confused as he thought his answer was a good answer.

"No, I will not go to lunch with you if you're only going because a mauo requested of it. Only if you want to go because you want to, will we go to lunch together." Serafall answered thinking to herself. 'I just met the Sekiryuutei and he already sees me as a burden. He only decided to go to lunch with me because I'm a mauo.' She thought along to herself changing her emotion from happy to depressed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I said that because I didn't quite know how to answer but, I would love to go to lunch with you mauo-sama." Issei said starting to get a bit embarrassed because of his answer. Issei then noticed something about himself and began thinking about it. 'Huh. Usually I wouldn't fight to go to lunch with someone. Usually I just wouldn't care and give up. She's different for some reason. For a reason I don't know, I actually care if I go on a lunch date with her or not.' Issei said while putting a smile on his face knowing now that he can care about things after all.

"Please, Sekiryuutei call me Serafall. I do not like mauo-sama." She exclaimed.

"Oh, U-Uh ok. Are you sure that I can call you that?" He questions not knowing if he could call a mauo by something so formal.

"Yes. I would like if you would call me Serafall." Serafall exclaimed yet again.

"U-Umm ok. I must ask you to call me Issei then, Serafall-sama." Issei said waiting to get killed or slapped or something for asking such a thing.

"Ok. I will from know on call the Sekiryuutei, Issei-kun." Serafall said putting her usual happy smile back on and started thinking to herself. 'I guess I was wrong. He didn't see me as a burden after all. He's different than other people. He doesn't mind my intense aura and doesn't see me as a burden like everyone else in my life has.' She thought while removing her fake smile and put on a real smile. She felt her lips and began to think to herself again. 'Hmmm. A smile. And not a fake one a real smile. I haven't really smiled in a long time. I'm glad I met you Issei-kun.'

As they started to walk out of the convention to get some food Issei started to think again. 'To think, out of all the people in the world, the one that would make me care about something again would be a mauo. The sister of Sona-kaichou. Who would have thought. But one thing I do know is, that I'm glad I met her.'


	3. The Blood Oath - revised

Disclaimer! No matter how hard I wish I do not own High School DxD in any way, shape, or form!

" " – Somebody Talking

' ' – Somebody Thinking

" " – _Flashback_

" " – **Ddraig Talking**

' ' – **Ddraig Thinking**

 **[ ] – Boosted Gear**

* * *

Issei and Serafall Leviathan were walking down a road as they were looking for a place to eat. They didn't know quite yet what they wanted to eat but they figured when they saw the place they would know. However, what they didn't notice was that two people were following them from within the shadows. The two were watching Issei and Serafall like a hawk and didn't blink even for a second, scared that they would miss something or that they would disappear. As Issei and Serafall were walking, a fast-food restaurant caught Issei's attention.

"How about this place Serafall-sama. It looks like a nice place to eat." Being honest Issei was still not sure if he could call Serafall by that name, but, since she requested it he decided to role with it.

"Ummmm a burgher place? Sounds good!" Serafall responded in her normal cheerful tone. As Issei and Serafall walked into the restaurants they began looking at the menu.

"Hmmmm. I will have a, Bench Girl with no mayonnaise, extra tomato, no pickles, and a medium fry please." Issei said

"Would you like a drink with that sir?" The woman behind the register asked.

"Yea sure, I will have a medium lightning dew."

"Ok and for you ma'am?"

"Uhhh. I will have the sizzlin' ghost burgher with no tomatoes, a small fry, and a water." Serafall ordered while Issei was surprised at what she ordered.

"So, you like the spicy stuff I see. You sure you can handle that burgher? It has ghost peppers." Issei exclaimed. Serafall responded by sending a wink that made him blush.

"Ma'am, what size do you want your water to be?"

"A medium will be fine. Thank you"

"Ok your order number is #26. You can choose your seat as you wait for your food, thank you." The lady behind the cash register said while putting on a smile.

Issei and Serafall were looking around when they found a good place to sit and enjoy their food. It was a table with 2 booths. Once they had sat down and gotten their food they felt two people standing over them. Issei felt something hit the top of his head however, it didn't hurt because of his devil powers. Once he noticed what had hit him he knew exactly what was going on.

"Yo Issei! You left us at the convention what the heck man?" The person that punched Issei on top of his head said.

"You ditched us to go on a lunch date with a girl!" The other guy said getting pretty fired up.

"Come on man, haven't you ever heard of bros before hoes?"

"Matsuda? Motohama? What are you guys doing here? And could you please leave?" Issei said while he felt his anger starting to rise.

"Leave? No way! We aren't going to sit by and watch another girl throw themselves at you. This time you're going to share the love!" One of the perverted idiots said. Issei starting to get agitated. He was getting ready to beat the shit out of them, but was stopped by Serafall.

"Do you guys mind, I am on a lunch date with Issei-kun and do not want to be interrupted!" Serafall said putting on a pouty face.

"No way baby cakes! Issei is just going to have to share!" Motohama said when he suddenly started to feel a bit weird. Suddenly, Issei could feel Serafall's aura starting to grow. When he looked over he saw that Serafall had an agitated face and was upset.

"Serafall-sama is everything alright, you look upset" Issei said when he heard a big thud next to him. When he looked over he saw both Motohama and Matsuda passed out on the ground.

"Oh, I see you raised your aura to put them to sleep." Issei said as he began to chuckle. However, while looking at Serafall he noticed something about himself and began to think. 'Hmmm. When Matsuda and Motohama interrupted me and Serafall-sama, I got angry. What is it about her? What makes her different than everyone else? Why is it that ever since she hugged me, I've felt that void in my chest feel somewhat filled?' Issei thought as he suddenly could feel himself smiling. Serafall who put a smile back on also began to think to herself.

'Normally when I release my aura devils start struggling to breathe. But, Issei-kun didn't mind it at all. Even if it is because of his sacred gear, it's still nice to be around someone who doesn't flee because of my aura.' Serafall started to also feel herself smiling.

"Well, that was funny" Issei said to Serafall.

"Issei-kun. Do you know those two?"

"Yea. They are my friends, but tend to get jealous when I'm with a pretty girl." Issei said not realizing that he called Serafall pretty out loud and he began to blush. Serafall just looked down and chuckled as she also began to blush.

"Serafall-sama." Issei said while still blushing.

"Yes Issei-kun?"

"I-I well ummm. I think it is fun hanging out with you as things are interesting. D-do you think we could uhhh, maybe do it again some time?" Issei said as he started to blush harder. Serafall who was shocked by Issei's question put on a saddened look and looked down at her lap.

"Issei-kun. It's not that I don't want to do something like this with you again but, I-I'm a mauo. Meaning, being able to be with me is difficult. It is not fully up to me on who I want to be with." Serafall said while looking down at her lap with a sad face.

"What do you mean it's not fully up to you?" Issei answered as he also put on a depressed face. He was surprised when he felt a sharp pain in his heart. 'When she said we could not be together I got sad and felt my heart ache. Why is this? Could it be? Am I, falling for her? No no no, it can't be. But, if I haven't, why do I feel this way? Why does she fill that void in my stomach.' Issei thought to himself when Serafall continued.

"Well I only choose who the candidate to be with me is. Weather they are allowed to be with me, is up to the other 3 mauos." Serafall then felt a shooting pain in her heart. 'So that is it, have I really fallen for Rias' pawn?'

"H-how does someone become eligible of being with you Serafall-sama?" Issei said putting on a serious face shocking Serafall.

"Issei. If you want to be with me, you must become stronger. Strength and courage is how you will gain the respect of the other 3 mauos. If you do not put your body through life threating training countless times. You will not become strong enough." After hearing her words Issei clenched his fist till the point that blood slowly trickled down his hand.

"So basically, if someone wants to pursue a relationship with you, they have to gain the respect of the mauos." Serafall nodded sadly. 'This void, it's been there ever since Raynare killed me. Since then, nothing has been able to make me care about anything. So why? Why does Serafall make me feel different? If I want to continue to feel this feeling, if I want to be with Serafall, I must become stronger.'

Issei suddenly gained a fire in his eyes as he looked up at Serafall with determination. "Serafall-sama, ever since I was reincarnated, there has been this void in my stomach. Not a litteral one, but more like a empty feeling. Like there was something missing in my life. No matter what I did, I couldn't fill it, and it made just simply not care about anything."

Serafall looked at him sadly, thinking that he didn't care about her either. However, what he said next shocked her to the core. "But, the instant I met you, for some reason I can't explain, that void started to fill. Started to make me care about things again. Or rather, care about you."

Serafall looked at him with wide eyes and blush on her face. Shocked to the very core from what he said. "I don't know very much about this void, or why you fill it, but I know one thing. I don't want to lose that feeling. So, if being with you is what helps me understand this void, if this feeling of being full is what I think it is, then…" Issei took a pause and gained even more fire and determination in his eyes.

He raised his bloody hand as drops dropped off his wrist and onto the table. "The I make this blood oath, that I will become strong, strong enough to be with you. No matter the cost." Serafall's blush went nearly atomic at the declaration.

Serafall soon gained a smile and nodded. "Ok, then I'll hold that against you. If being with me fills that void in you, then become stronger. Strong enough to gain the respect of the mauos and make due on that oath." Serafall said with a big smile and somewhat watery eyes.

Soon after, they left the restraint, leaving money on the counter since everyone was still knocked out because of Serafall's aura.

* * *

Issei and Serafall had just arrived at Kuoh academy and they were heading towards the student council office when they heard a voice.

"Issei. I've been looking all over for you, where have you been?" A crimson haired person said to Issei. Not noticing who was beside him.

"Oh, Buchou. I've been accompanying Serafall-sama to places around town." Hearing Issei's words Rias put on a confused face.

"Serafall-sama? Who is that?" Rias said as she saw the girl next to Issei, who used to have her back turned to Rias, turn around.

"Oh, Lady Rias. I didn't see you there." Serafall said with her joyful tone and smile.

"L-Leviathan-sama. It certainly has been a long time." Rias said as she got nervous that Issei had mistreated her in some way.

"That it has. Issei-kun has been with me all day. I'm sorry if I took him away from something important. We just got back from our lunch date!" Serafall said while gripping Issei's arm. Issei started scratching the back of his head and chuckling because he didn't know what to say.

"L-Lunch date? But I thought that only the people who gained the respect of the mauos could pursue a relationship with a mauo." Rias said while putting on a depressed face. 'Issei! Why couldn't you have chosen me?' Rias thought to herself as she started pouting.

"Oh, were not together, we just went to lunch together. However, Issei did make a blood oath to bec-"she was cut off by Issei's hand started to muffle her mouth, scared of what Rias might do if she found out about his blood oath. 'That was close. If Buchou finds out about my blood oath she might get very mad.' Issei thought to himself.

"Issei! Don't be rude, she is a mauo! Release your hand at once!" Rias shouted.

"U-UH! Sorry Buchou! I am sorry Serafall-sama for doing that." Issei leaned in close to Serafall's ear and whispered something to her. "Don't tell her about the blood oath just yet. She will find out soon enough, I promise." Hearing his words Serafall nodded and respected Issei's decision.

"Well, anyways. What are you doing here Leviathan-sama? Are you here to see Sona?"

"Yes I am! It's been too long since I seen So-tan." Serafall exclaimed.

"Ok then I will come with you. If you don't mind that is." Rias said but she was not interested in seeing Sona she wanted to see how Serafall acted towards Issei.

Rias, Issei, and Serafall were all walking down the hallway when they were nearing the student council room. As they got close enough to see the door Serafall got really excited and ran towards the door.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Come in" A voice said from inside the room. As Serafall started to open the door she caught a glimpse of her sister and leapt towards her shouting.

"So-tan! I missed you so much!" As Serafall was running at Sona you could hear Sona mumble two words.

"Oh no." Sona mumbled as her bigger sister ran into Sona's arms jumping in glee. Issei who was watching was enjoying the moment as he could see Serafall's breast jumping up and down. Rias who acknowledged Issei gazing at her hit him on the top of the head.

"Down boy!" Rias said as Issei snapped out of it. Sona who was getting more and more agitated from her sister. Knowing she needed to get out of the situation somehow, she pulled her sister off of her, looked at Rias and began speaking.

"Rias. Two people from the church arrived at the school earlier today. They were looking for you." Sona said in a serious tone as Rias realized that whatever Sona was talking about was about something serious and should be discussed in private.

"Sona. Do you mind speaking about this in private?"

"Yes, I was about to recommend that myself. Would you mind bringing Akeno? It would be wise to bring your queen, so she can be informed of the situation."

"Why yes of course." Rias responded when Serafall interrupted.

"Wait Sonaaaa. I really needed to talk to you!" Serafall said as she began to pout.

"Whatever it is, it will have to wait. This matter is urgent and must be taken care of immediately." After she said that she left the room and Rias followed.

"Issei-kun." Serafall said getting Issei's attention.

"Yes Serafall-sama?" Serafall took out a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"Here, take this. It is a communication circle that you can use to contact me since your magic is too low to contact me through the normal communication circle." Serafall said as her facial expression changed to serious.

"Ok but what do I need it for?"

"I would like you to keep tabs on whatever is going on between Rias and So-tan. I have a bad feeling about this and would like you to inform me of everything that happens."

"Ummm. Ok, I can do that." Issei said while putting it in his pocket.

"I'm going to stay here and wait for So-tan to come back, you can go home now if you would like."

"Umm, Ok. I will head home now. I'm glad that I got to meet you and become acquainted with you. I hope I see you again soon." Issei said with a smile on his face.

"I get the feeling that we are going to see each other again very soon." Serafall said with a serious face. Issei wondering what she meant by that then saw her face change from serious to joyful and she began to speak again. "Until next time Issei-kun. Don't forget about your blood oath." She said as she winked and put her two fingers up to her eyes again. Before Issei started heading home he started to think to himself again. 'I promise to you Serafall-sama. I will become strong. Wait for me until then, I promise it won't take too long.' After thinking that to himself he left the room and headed home.

* * *

It had been 30 minutes since Sona had left with Rias to talk about the situation with the church. Sona explained to Rias that two people from the church would be meeting with Rias tomorrow at the ORC to talk about what they wanted from Rias. After that Sona went back to the student council room but, she didn't expect her sister to still be there waiting for her. 'Huh. If she waited here this long for me, it must be important. I wonder if it is information about the church and what they want.' Sona thought to herself.

"So, you're still here. I thought you would have left by now."

"I said that I really needed to talk to you. I wasn't lying!" Serafall said while putting on a pouty face.

"Well, out with it. Let's see what you have to say already."

"Alright, well if you're in such a rush I will put it simply. I have decided a candidate to take my hand in marriage." Hearing Serafall's words Sona was shocked to her very core. She didn't think her sister would ever find someone to take her hand in marriage, in fact, she was pretty sure her sister was still a virgin.

"Oh, who is he?"

"It is the Sekiryuutei, Hyoudou Issei." Serafall said while starting to blush from thinking about Issei again. Sona reeled back, shocked she would choose the school pervert of all people. 'Well, I guess that's why Hyoudou was her with her when she came.'

"You have chosen Hyoudou-kun? He is not nearly strong enough to earn the respect of the mauos."

"Yes, that he is not. However, it only took him a month to grow strong enough to defeat Riser Phenix. At his current growth rate, he will become strong enough soon. He is already strong enough to pull out the balance breaker in desperate times."

"Yes, I suppose so. At Hyoudou-kun's current growth rate it will only take him a short amount of time to gain the mauos respect." Sona then started to think in her head again. 'However, with his current growth rate there is a risk involved. If he was able to pull the balance breaker out after a month because of his rage. It will only be a matter of time before the Juggernaut Drive appears. And the juggernaut is no joke'

"Yes, and I know what you are thinking So-tan. You are thinking it is only a matter of time before the juggernaut appears. And I believe that you are correct. So, I am asking you to keep an eye on him and if you see him starting to get angry and pushed over the edge, try and calm him down." Serafall said as she was genuinely worried about Issei.

"Ok, I will do that." Sona replied.

"Then there is nothing else that I would like to discuss. I will be going now." Serafall said as she activated a teleportation circle underneath her feet.

"Ok, and I will update you if anything happens concerning Hyoudou-kun."

"Thank you Sona." With that being said Serafall had disappeared and their conversation was over. 'Out of all the people in the underworld, she chose Hyoudou Issei. If he is to marry nee-chan he will need to gain more knowledge of our culture. He is probably going to need lessons. And hey, maybe if I become his teacher I will figure out what made Rias and nee-chan fall for him.'

* * *

Back at Issei's house he was worryingabout how he was going to uphold his blood oath. 'I know that I need to become stronger but, I don't know how strong and have no idea how to get stronger.' As Issei was thinking to himself he heard a voice in his head.

" **I see you finally found your resolve."**

"Ddraig! You were awake this whole time?"

" **Indeed, and partner, I have thought about it and have decided that I will be the one to train you."**

"You will be the one to train me? How are you going to do that exactly?" Issei wanted to know how it was possible that Ddraig could train him but at the same time he had to hold back his laugh.

" **When you are sleeping or meditating I can train you. I will train you on how to breathe fire. It is a dragon's signature move after all. However, I will only be able to train you the basics and you will need a dragon whose soul isn't locked in a sacred gear to train you on advanced stuff and your body."** 'Great, now I won't be able to dream about breast. I'll be to busy getting my ass kicked by Ddraig now.'

" **Partner. Have you forgotten I can hear what you think to yourself."**

"You know Ddraig. Sometimes you are an annoyance. Anyways, when does the training start?"

" **Tonight of course."**

"Greattt. Just what I wanted."

" **Until you take Serafall's hand in marriage you will be training with me every night as you sleep."** After hearing those words Issei began to sob. If there was one thing Issei hated the most in the world, it would defiantly be training. However, this wasn't ordinary training. This time he was training to uphold a blood oath. And nothing was going to stop him from being with Serafall. Nothing.


	4. Old Friends - revised

Disclaimer! No matter how hard I wish I do not own High School DxD in any way, shape, or form!

" " – Somebody Talking

' ' – Somebody Thinking

" " – _Flashback_

" " – **Ddraig Talking**

' ' – **Ddraig Thinking**

 **[ ] – Boosted Gear**

"Ahhh, shit. Ddraig that one hurt a lot. Maybe you could turn it down a bit?" Issei was currently training with Ddraig while he was sleeping. Issei didn't like the idea of not being able to have his usual dreams, but, Issei thought the gain was better than the sacrifice.

" **Sorry partner. But, if I recall that mauo said you needed to put yourself through life threatening training. Did she not?"** Issei badly wanted to argue with Ddraig but, he knew that if Ddraig did turn down his power by even a tenth, Issei would not become strong enough.

"I guess your right Ddraig. But, I've been meaning to ask you, earlier you said that I needed a dragon whose soul wasn't sealed in a scared gear to train me with more advanced stuff."

" **Yes. That is correct"** Ddraig said wondering where he was going with this.

"Well. Do you have anybody in mind? Most dragons are dead or sealed are they not?"

 **Well, yes and no. All dragons are categorized and that played a big part in what dragons got sealed and who did not."** Issei starting to understand asked another question.

"Oh ok. I'm starting to get it. So, the dragons that didn't step out of line or were too powerful were not sealed?"

" **Looks like there's more in that brain than just the thought of breast. Yes, the dragons that were sealed or kill were the evil dragons that consist of Apophis, Grendel, Vritra, and many more. As you already know the two heavenly dragons were sealed as well. Me and Albion. All of these dragons stepped out of line and became a threat. However, there is some dragons that step out of line but are too powerful to defeat. Two of which would be the infinite dragon god Ophis and the dragon of dragon, Great Red."**

"Hmmm. Just how powerful are these dragons? Ophis and Great Red that is." Issei said as he began to become interested.

" **Well, the infinite dragon god Ophis' strength is in its name. She is infinite and has been around since the beginning of time basically. She has been challenged by people many times, but she doesn't even fight back as they can't hurt her even if they drive a spear through her stomach. As for Great Red, he is how I just explained Ophis. Except the one he has been ignoring because they can't hurt him is Ophis. Ophis has been trying to defeat Great Red in battle since the end of the three-way war."**

"Man. These dragons are really strong. Is it even possible to rise to their level?" Issei thought as he figures that being able to challenge Ophis will earn the respect of the mauos.

" **Is it possible? Yes. Since you have the power of the Sekiryuutei you have the power to ascend a god at will. However, you must become stronger. There is no limit to your potential."** As Issei formulated his plan he put a smirk on his face and began to speak to Ddraig again.

"Ddraig, Amp up your power. I need to become a lot stronger if I even want to rival Ophis and gain the respect of the mauos."

" **I like your motivation partner however, it's time for you to get up. You're alarm clock has been going off for the past 10 minutes."** Issei's facial expression changed to worried very quickly as he knew he was going to be late for school.

"G-Good training session Ddraig. Got to go now, bye!" After saying that Issei opened his eyes only to see a blonde-haired woman sitting on top of him while she shook him vigorously.

"A-Asia-san?" Issei thought as his face turned red because Asia still wasn't dressed.

"Issei-kun! Your finally awake. I've been trying to wake you for the past 10 minutes." Asia said as she got off him and started to put her clothes on. "I was actually starting to think you would never wake up."

"Sorry Asia-chan, I was training with Ddraig." Hearing Issei's words Asia got confused and questioned him.

"Training with Ddraig? You mean the dragon inside your gauntlet?"

"Yea that's right. He said he was going to teach me how to breathe fire but all he's doing is shoot fire at me and I have to dodge it."

"Oh, that reminds me. Kiba-san said he wanted to spar with you today."

"Oh greatttt. More training. Doesn't it ever end?" Issei began to pout about having to do more training.

"Ise-san, we should get ready for school now, it starts in 15 minutes." Issei's eyes widened as he jumped out of bed and rushed toward his closet throwing his clothes on.

"Uhh, Ise-san. Your shirt is on backwards." Asia said while chuckling. When they were both ready they ran to school occasionally stopping so Asia could catch her breathe. When they had arrived at their classroom they were already too late. As they walked into the classroom the teacher looked at them and began to speak.

"Ise-kun you are late again. You will have detention after school today. As for you Asia-kun, you go find your seat. I'm sure it is his fault that your late, so you get a free pass." The teacher said as Issei put on a weird face but didn't say anything as he didn't want to get Asia in trouble. Issei grabbed his detention slip from the teacher and went toward his desk.

School had just ended and Issei was walking toward the student council room to serve his detention. As he knocked on the door he heard a voice from the inside.

"Come in." A familiar voice said. 'Great Sona-kaichou is going to be pissed that I got another detention.' Issei thought as he prepared himself to get scolded. Issei opened the door when he saw Sona standing there with an upset expression on her face once she saw who the person was.

"Detention? Again Hyoudou-kun."

"Yeah, I was late getting to class." He pleaded as he shielded himself expecting her to hit him with her magic.

"Very well, take your seat." Issei was surprised that Sona didn't punish him for getting another detention. As Issei was sitting at his desk he noticed Sona giving him a death stare.

"W-What is it Sona-kaichou?" Sona who didn't change her look began to speak.

"I know about you and my sister, Hyoudou-kun" Issei's eyes widened and began thinking to himself. 'Oh shit, she's going to kill me now. Well, I guess I live a fulfilling life. Wait! No I haven't! I still haven't done it! Am I going to die a virgin for the second time?'

"You do know what you have to do to be eligible of her. Do you not?" Sona still had the same death stare on her face that made Issei feel like he was going to be shot with her water dragon at any moment.

"Y-Yes I am aware of what I have to do. I have to get strong and show courage, to gain the respect of the mauos." Issei said while shivering because of his fear. Looks like he failed at showing courage already.

"Correct but that is not all. You must also become well informed of the devil's, fallen angel's, and angel's mythology."

"Wait what! Are you kidding me! You're telling me I have to learn all that stuff?" Issei began thinking to himself. 'Aw man. Learning everything I need to is going to take an eternity.'

"Yes, and I have decided to help you with that. This way it will not take as long as usual. Plus, now you will be well informed when you take the mid-class exam."

"Ok, very well. It seems that this will put me two steps close to fulfilling my blood oath." Issei said however, Sona put on a confused face. Issei noticing this asked Sona a question. "Did Serafall-sama not tell you about my blood oath?"

"No, she did not. I have heard nothing about a blood oath." Hearing Issei's words Sona thought among herself. 'I'm guessing he made a blood oath that he would become stronger. If so, he is more committed than I thought. Not only that, a drive like that could make it easier for him to be thrusted into the Juggernaut Drive.'

"Oh, I made a blood oath promising that I would become stronger and one day gain the respect of the mauos. And I intend to fulfill that blood oath at any costs. Even if it requires Ddraig turning most my body into a dragon." Issei said as Sona then realized what it was that made Rias and her sister fall for Issei. 'Hmmm. His motivation and commitment, quite the combination if you ask me. It's no wonder they fell for him. It's because he would go to any lengths for the people he loves. I better be careful, or I just might follow in the footsteps of Rias and nee-chan.' Sona thought among herself.

"That is quite the determination you have. I expect great things from you then." After hearing Sona's words, Issei put a smirk on his face and began to speak.

"Don't worry, with you as my teacher, I am positive it will not take long for me to uphold my blood oath." Sona, who got a little red on her cheeks, accepted the compliment.

"Thank you Hyoudou-kun. Now sit down and be quiet. This is still detention after all." Sona said while her redness went away and put on the death stare once again.

"Y-Yes ma'am." Issei hurried and sat in his seat and was quiet for the rest of his detention.

Issei had just arrive at the ORC and was entering the room when he saw Kiba.

"Oh, Ise-kun. Your finally back from detention. So, how was it?" Issei putting on an annoyed face answered Kiba's question.

"Oh, it was fantastic" Issei answered sarcastically. "But, I guess being able to see Sona-kaichou and talk to her again was pretty nice."

"Issei-kun, you wouldn't dare try and do anything with Sona-kaichou. Would you?" Hearing Kiba's words Issei got embarrassed and felt the room get hotter for some reason.

"Kiba-teme! It is not like that! I am not trying to get with Sona-kaichou!"

"Yea yea. Whatever you say Issei-kun." Kiba said while chuckling. Issei, after being embarrassed by Kiba began thinking to himself. 'Kiba-teme, just you wait till our spar. I got something special for you now.'

"Anyways, Issei-kun, you need to prepare yourself. Two people from the church will be arriving very soon. They are coming to tell Buchou what they want with her." Hearing Kiba's words Issei realized something. 'Two people from the church? This must have something to do with what Buchou and Sona-kaichou talked about in private.'

"Ok. Do you know what Buchou wants us to do?" Issei asked.

"She wants us to look presentable and to not start any fights." Issei sweat dropped. Did Rias really think that they would start fights with church member?

It was 10 minutes later that the two people from the church arrived at the ORC. Rias was sitting on one of the couch's and the people from the church sat on the other. Akeno, who this whole time was preparing tea, sat tea in front of both Rias and the two from the church. The two from the church were wearing white cloaks with light blue crosses on them. After they sat down on the couch across from Rias they both took off their hoods. They were both females one with short, blue hair and a green stip. And the other with long chestnut colored hair. Issei was staring at the girl with long chestnut colored hair. 'For some reason this girl looks familiar. Where do I know her from?' Issei thought to himself as he could not figure out where he knew her from.

"Hello, my name is Xenovia and this person here next to me is my partner." The woman with blue hair said. However, the woman with chestnut colored hair did not say her name for some reason. "And this here is my holy sword of destruction. Made from one of the 7 cores of Excalibur." Xenovia continued. Hearing Xenovia's words Issei noticed that Kiba's face had changed to a face of pure hatred.

"And this is my holy sword of mimicry." The woman with chestnut colored hair said as a ribbon on her right arm transformed into a katana. "I consider this sword to be a blessing!" The girl said very energetically. After hearing the chestnut colored hair woman Issei began remembering things.

 _Issei was at his first friend's how and they were playing outside in his front yard. At least Issei thought it was a boy. Issei and his friend name Irina were playing tag. When they were done playing tag Irina began to speak to Issei._

" _You know. My church is having an event, and everyone is welcome. Do you want to come?" Irina said very energetically._

" _I don't know. Church isn't really my thing. Maybe some other time." Issei said as he was starting to get annoyed. 'Everyday Irina-kun asks me to come to church with him. Doesn't he realize I just don't want to go?' Issei thought as he calmed himself down._

" _I promise it will be fun. Nothing is more fun than praying to the lord!" Irina said very energetically yet again._

Remembering his past friend, he realized something. 'No way is this Irina? No, it can't be this person is a girl.' Issei who looked at the girl again noticed the face that she was making. 'She is looking at me like she knows me. But not just know me, but is friends with me. Could it really be?' Issei decided to see if it was really his old child hood friend.

"I-Irina-kun is that you?" Issei said while he saw the chestnut colored hair put on a smile and blush.

"So Issei-kun. You remember me after all." Issei surprised that it really was Irina said something that changed Irina's mood completely.

"No way! Wait! You were a girl this whole time! I always thought you were a boy." Issei said as he heard a voice in his head.

" **Buuwahahahaha."** Ddraig was laughing at the situation, pissing Issei off. Issei who forgot other people could hear him started screaming at Ddraig.

"Ddraig shut and go back to sleep!" Issei, who had just now realized everyone heard him apologized. "Uhhh sorry. Ddraig was being obnoxious." Issei said as everyone chuckled except for the two from the church.

"Ddraig? Who is this you talk about?" Xenovia questioned. Irina was still sitting on the couch pouting because Issei always thought she was a guy.

"Oh, ummm, I am not sure if I can tell you that. Buchou?"

"Yes, it is fine Issei."

"Ummm. Well Ddraig is my sacred gear." Issei said as he summoned the sacred gear.

"Oh, I see. You are the possessor of the boosted gear. So, you are the Sekiryuutei." Xenovia said as Irina looked in awe.

"Yes. That is correct. However, I would prefer if you called me Issei." Xenovia made an irritated look at Issei and begun to speak.

"It is not necessary for me to know your name. I am not here to make friends with devils."

"Understood. Now, would you tell me what you want with me?" Rias said getting impatient.

"Very well, I will tell you what we want. As you know the church is in possession of all 7 of the Excalibur's. However, we can only account for 2. We have reason to believe that the fallen angels were behind it." Issei noticed Kiba get very upset with what Xenovia was saying. 'I wonder why he is getting upset about this. Does he have a grudge against the church?' Issei thought among himself.

"And what does this have to do with me?" Rias asked simply.

"We want you to stay out of it. This is between us and Kokobiel." Xenovia said.

"You two are after a leader class by yourselves? That is suicide."

"We understand the risk, however, we still want you to stay out of it."

"Very well. I will stay out of it."

"Good. I doubted the little sister of Lucifer would be stupid enough to involve herself. However, we needed to make sure." After saying that Xenovia and Irina got up from out their seats and put their hoods back on. Before leaving Irina began to talk to Issei.

"It was nice seeing you again Issei-kun. I consider it to be a blessing and hope that it happens again." Irina said with a smile on her face yet again.

"Yea, it was nice to find out that you were a girl all along." Issei said while Irina began to pout again and walked out. After that left Issei look at Kiba and began to question him.

"Kiba-kun, why were you getting upset when Irina-san and Xenovia-san were talking?" Kiba looked at Issei with an angry face.

"It does not pertain to you Issei-kun, so do not worry about it." Kiba said as he started to leave the ORC.

"Hey! Kiba-kun! I thought we were friends! Friends are supposed to help each other."

"Friends? Yea sure." Kiba said sarcastically. Kiba the ORC leaving everyone wondering what was wrong with him.


	5. Crimson Purgatory - revised

Disclaimer! No matter how hard I wish I do not own High School DxD in any way, shape, or form!

" " – Somebody Talking

' ' – Somebody Thinking

" " – _Flashback_

" " – **Ddraig Talking**

' ' – **Ddraig Thinking**

 **[ ] – Boosted Gear**

* * *

Kiba, who had just left the ORC was following the two from the church. 'The holy swords. The swords made from Excalibur. I will destroy them all and avenge my fallen comrades.'

"Are you going to keep hiding in the shadows or are you going to tell us what you want?" Xenovia said while gripping her sword of destruction.

"So, you perceived me after all." Kiba said creating a sword.

"If you were going to follow us you could have tried a bit harder. Now tell me, what do you want?"

"Me? Not much, I only want to avenge my comrades. And to do that, I need to destroy the holy swords you guys have there." Kiba said while making a fighting stance.

"Oh, I see. I have heard of you. The only survivor of the holy sword project. I understand why and respect your decision, however, I cannot allow you to do that." Xenovia also made a fighting stance. "Irina-san. Stay out of this." Kiba and Xenovia both leapt at each other and began to fight. As Kiba exchanged swords swings with Xenovia, Kiba realized he was at a disadvantage. 'I have more sword skill than her, however, my sword is not nearly on the level of hers. At this rate I will not win.'

"It is time for you to freeze, then burn!" Kiba said while making an ice sword in one hand and fire sword in the other. He then proceeded to make several swipes and slashed of his sword directed at Xenovia.

"How arrogant!" Xenovia said while slicing both of Kiba's swords in half. Kiba jumped back and used swordburst to have a dozen swords come out of the ground from below Xenovia. Xenovia jumped back dodging the swords.

"You posses the sacred gear swordburst, I see. That is quite the gift you have been given. However, it is not enough to match my sword!" Kiba made another sword however this one much bigger and demonic.

"Let's see whose sword is more powerful! Your holy. Or my demonic." Kiba said while lunging at Xenovia.

"Idiot." Xenovia mumbled while driving the cross guard of her sword into his stomach.

"G-Gahhh." Kiba spat out a pool of blood and fell to his knees.

"So arrogant. By creating such a big sword, you lost the speed that you're so proud of. If only you would have seen that sooner." Xenovia said while holstering her sword. "I will spare your life as I do not want to start conflict with the little sister of Lucifer. Consider yourself lucky." Xenovia said turning in the other direction and walking away.

"Just you wait. I will get my revenge. Just you wait." Kiba said while holding his wound.

"I will have you know that the people behind the holy sword project were excommunicated. The person behind it all was a man named Valper Galilei."

"Why tell me this? I am you're enemy."

"Simple. I as well resent what the holy sword project did. As do many others in the church." Xenovia and Irina both walked away leaving Kiba behind.

"Dammit Teme! Why were you being so reckless, you could have gotten yourself killed!" Issei yelled after he found out what Kiba had done. "Tell me why are you acting like this!"

"I'm sorry Issei-kun. But, I cannot."

"Why not? It is obvious that whatever it is, it's bothering you. So please tell me!" Issei pleaded.

"I'm sorry Issei-kun. But, this is not something I can share with you. If you must know, you will have to ask Buchou." Kiba said as he walked out of the room. 'Dammit Kiba. Why won't you tell me what is going on with you! Very well, I will have to ask Buchou about this then.' Issei thought. After finding out where Rias was, went to her to question her about Kiba.

"Buchou, I would like to ask you about something." Rias smiled at Issei and replied.

"What is it Issei? Does it have to do with the people from the church?"

"Well in a way yes. When the people form the church were here, Kiba-kun was getting very upset and he has been acting strangely. He said that if I wanted to know why he was acting this way, then to ask you Buchou." Rias who had a surprised look on her face questioned Issei.

"Yuuto said that? You are sure of it?"

"Yes. He said that it was something he could not share with me, but, if I needed to know, to ask you."

"Very well. Yuuto was acting strangely not because of the people from the church, but what they had with them." Hearing this Issei question Rias.

"Their holy swords? What was wrong with them."

"Well. That is complicated, but it has to do with a project known as _The Holy Sword Project_. Long ago, there was a very powerful sword know as Excalibur. This sword was so strong that it had to be cut into 7 pieces. Using these 7 pieces they made 7 brand new Excalibur's. None of them were nearly close to on par with the original, but they were all still very strong. The 2 swords the people from the church had were holy swords." Issei still looked at Rias with a confused face.

"Well I understand that but, I don't see how this involves Kiba-kun. Does it have something to do with this holy sword project?"

"Yes, it has everything to do with it. These Excalibur's were rare but, finding someone that had the ability to wield them was even more rare. The holy sword project was using children, all of them training to wield an Excalibur. Yuuto was a part of this project"

"Wait, does that mean that Kiba-kun can wield an Excalibur?" Issei question as Rias put on a depressed face.

"No. In fact none of the children could. None of the children never adapted to Excalibur's strength. So, the church decided to abandon the project and eliminate them."

"W-Wait. Eliminate them? Like, kill them?" Rias nodded and began to explain.

"Yes. All the children were killed except for Yuuto. Yuuto was able to escape and I found him in the forest on the verge of death. His motivation to stay alive was to avenge his fallen comrades. I thought a drive like that would be useful. I guess his grudge against the church never faded."

"I didn't know that something so tragic ever happened to Kiba-kun. I guess I don't know him at all really."

"It's not your fault Issei. Yuuto does not like to share what happened to him because it brings back painful memories."

"Oh, I see. Well, that's all I wanted to know Buchou, thanks." As Issei started to leave the room Rias grabbed his arm and questioned him.

"Issei, since I helped you, I would like you to do something for me." Rias said with a nervous face while she started to sweat.

"O-Okay Buchou. W-What is it?" Issei asked also very nervous.

"I-I want you to tell me. W-What is Leviathan-sama to you? Please tell me the truth Issei." Issei's eyes widened and he thought among himself. 'Do I tell Buchou the truth? I mean, I can't hide it from her forever. I-I guess I have to tell Buchou the truth.'

"Very well. Since you told me the truth, I will tell you the truth."

"Thank you Issei."

"Well, I guess the only way to put it is that, she is my goal."

"Your goal? Like in strength or, for your future?" Rias started to sweat more and started to get a little red.

"For my future. I want to gain the respect of the mauos and earn the right to pursue a relationship with her." Issei said bluntly while getting embarrassed.

"Oh, I see." Rias looked down at her lap and held back her tears since she did not want Issei to think she was weak. 'Issei. Is it really that hard to have feeling for me? Why won't you just choose me.' Rias who was trying to hold back her tears could no longer do it as a few tears ran down her cheeks.

"B-Buchou. Is everything alright?"

"Y-Yea everything is alright. However, I do have another question."

"W-What is it Buchou? Are you sure you're alright though?" Issei not thinking she was fine decided to go along with it for now.

"Your dream to have harem? Is it still one of your dream or is their only room for Leviathan-sama."

"My dream to have a harem? Yea, it still stands I guess."

"T-Then, who would have a place in your harem?"

"Well, I guess the people that wanted a place in it. As long as I agree."

"W-Would I have a place in your harem." Issei was shocked with what Rias asked and began to think to himself. 'Why would Buchou want to know if she would have a place in my harem? Does she actually want to be apart of my harem?'

"B-But you're my master. Besides, you wouldn't want to join my harem, would you?" Issei asked nervously wondering what her answer would be.

"W-Well, I mean. Maybe." Rias said as she started to blush and looked at Issei. 'W-Wait. Buchou would want a place in my harem?'

"I don't know. I'm not sure I will know the answer to your question for a while. For now, my dream of a harem still stands, I think, but that may change later down the road." Issei looked at his feet as he didn't want look up to see her Rias' face. Rias grew depressed but decided to put up a fake smile.

"T-Thank you Issei. That is all I wanted to know. You may go know." Issei turned around and left the room and decided to head home. When he got home he saw a piece of paper on the table. The piece of paper was from Asia and it said that she wasn't going to be coming how tonight as she was going to stay at Akeno's because she was doing special training to improve her magic.

* * *

It was the next morning and Issei was in the middle of training with Ddraig again.

" **You are getting good at dodging these attacks partner. I think you may even be strong enough to pull out the balance breaker at will."**

"Really you think so Ddraig? You think it may be enough to impress the mauos?"

" **Buwahahahahaha. Partner, you said you want to be able to rival Ophis right? Well, at your current power, Ophis would see you as an ant walking by, and squish you with her foot."**

"W-What? Really? Man, I might have underestimated how strong Ophis is. So Ddraig, I've been meaning to ask you something."

" **Yea partner? What is it?"**

"Is there a form that is stronger than the balance breaker? I know I sound greedy for power but, I would like to know."

" **Well, there is a form stronger than the balance breaker, however, it comes with a risk"**

"A risk? What is the risk?"

" **If you go into the form and are not strong enough to handle it, you will go berserk. If you go berserk there is a good chance that you will use all your life force and die, it is called a incomplete transformation. If you transform correctly you still cut life off your life span. The form follows equivalent exchange. The longer you are in the form, the shorter your life span gets."**

"Oh, I see. I best stay away from that."

" **Yes, you should. And by the way… You are 20 minutes late to school."**

"What! Ddraig! Why do you keep doing this to me!" Issei woke up and got ready as fast as he could just throwing his clothes on he ran to school.

As Issei ran out of his door, skipping breakfast, he ran towards the school. However, once he got close to the school he saw something quite unexpected, a barrier was in place over the school. 'W-What the? Why is there a barrier over the school? This can't be good.'

"Ddraig, wake up!"

" **I'm already awake partner."**

"Well it's time to see if what you said was true." Issei summoned his gauntlet and started running toward the barrier.

 **[Boost]**

After boosting about four more times, Issei began talking to Ddraig. "Ok I think I'm ready." After saying that a red aura started to come off his body and take the shape of armor. As wings and red armor started to materialize Issei noticed that his training really did pay off.

 **[Welsh Dragon Balance Breaker!]**

"You were right I really am able to summon the balance breaker at will. Well, except for the time it takes to boost up to that level."

" **Yes, it appears so."** Issei used his wings to thrust into the sky and fly toward the barrier in place by the school. As he got closer he saw some familiar people. As he flew down to confront the people, they looked at him and as he got closer most of them got scared.

"Sona-kaichou! What is going on?" Issei asked as the rest of the people besides for Tsubaki were looking at Issei in pure fear. Issei noticing that made his helmet disappear to ease their fear.

"W-Wait, that is Hyoudou-kun? Since when is he able to do that?" Saji said as he got jealous of Issei's new power. "Now I will never be able to catch up." Saji started to pout.

"Rias and the other are inside of this barrier fighting Kokobiel. A leader-class fallen angel. They are really going to need your help, so hurry and go!" Hearing that Issei ran into the barrier and toward the sound of explosions. As he got nearer he could see Asia healing Akeno, Rias in a one on one with a fallen angel with 10 wings, Xenovia, Kiba, and Irina were fighting Freed, and Koneko was standing guard as Asia healed Akeno. 'Man, I have missed a lot.'

"I see your healer uses the sacred gear twilight healing! Let's see how you fair without that." The fallen angel with 10 wings said while forming a huge spear of light and throwing it at Koneko, Akeno, and Asia. 'That spear of light is way to big for Koneko to deflect.' Issei thought as he leapt forward and punched the spear of light, breaking it to millions of pieces. 'Hmmm. I guess I finally get to see just how strong my balance breaker really is.' Issei thought among himself.

"Issei!" Everyone said in unison except for Xenovia, Irina, and Kiba who still hadn't realized he was there yet.

"I-Is that really Issei?" Asia asked as this was her first time seeing him in balance breaker form. Issei took off his mask and looked at Asia.

"Yea, it's really me, but you need to focus on healing Akeno." Issei said as he turned and look at the fallen angel. "I'm guessing that you are Kokobiel. The leader-class fallen angel"

"Yes, you are correct. And I see that you are the Sekiryuutei. This has peaked my interest, finally an opponent who will put up a good fight." Kokobiel said with a devious laugh and smile.

"Issei! It is about time you showed up! Where have you been?" Rias questioned with a worried face.

"Sorry, Ddraig didn't tell me that it was time for me to go to school until I was already 20 minutes late." Issei said with an annoyed look on his face.

"What do you mean by that? Why would Ddraig be telling you that you were 20 minutes late?" Rias questioned Issei as he remembered that he never told her that he had been training with Ddraig.

"Oh, that is right I never told you. I have been training with Ddraig while I sleep for a little while now. It's the reason that I am able to pull out the balance breaker."

"If you really wanted training, all you had to do was ask you know?" Rias said as she put on a depressed face.

"Well, you can scold me later, right now we have other priorities." Issei said as he focused his attention on Kokobiel once again.

"Now can you tell me, what do you want with our town?" Issei question Kokobiel.

"Quite simple really. Ever since the last 3-way war ended, I was so bored. So, I have decided to start a war of my own, and how better to start by killing the sister's of both Sirzechs Lucifer and Serafall Leviathan." Kokobiel said while laughing.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to let that happen." Issei said as he raised his aura and started to boost.

 **[Boost]**

Issei lunged forward and exchanged fist with Kokobiel. 'I need more boost, currently he's much stronger than me.' Issei thought among himself.

"Quite impressive. For you to be able to exchange fist with me is quite impressive boy. I'm really looking forward to this fight." Kokobiel formed a sword of light in his right hand and a spear of light in the other.

 **[Boost]**

Kokobiel threw the spear of light at Issei and lunged forward. Issei also lunged forward and punched through the spear of light. Using his left hand, he blocked the sword of light and punched Kokobiel in the face with the other.

After wiping blood off his face Kokobiel questioned Issei. "How is it that you were able to block my sword of light? You are a devil, are you not? That sword should have cut straight through your armor and hand." Kokobiel said while Issei put on a smirk.

"Well, maybe if you fight me enough you will figure it out, but, I doubt you have the time!" Issei said while forming a red ball in front of his gauntlet.

"Dragon Shot" Issei said while shooting a red beam at Kokobiel.

"Nice try!" Kokobiel said, underestimating what seemed to be a small blast from Issei. Kokobiel tried using his wings to protect himself from the blast, however, since he underestimated Issei's blast, it ended up crippling several of Kokobiel's wings.

"Ughh. It seems that I may have underestimated you Sekiryuutei. However, I will not do that again!" Kokobiel said as a yellow aura started to envelop his body. 'It seems that he is raising his aura. This isn't good. If he has been holding back this whole time, it is going to end up being bad news.' Issei thought among himself

 **[Boost]**

Kokobiel, after raising his aura, created a spear of light that Issei knew he had no chance of deflecting with his current power. As Kokobiel threw the spear Issei realized what kind of situation he was in. 'If I dodge the spear it will end up breaking the barrier, and this fight will spill out of Kuoh Academy. But, if I let it hit me, I will die. I guess I have no choice.' Issei formed a dragon shot and shot it and the spear hoping it would weaken it, however, the spear just devoured it. Since the spear was coming in fast toward Issei, he had no choice but to get out of the way and let the barrier be destroyed. 'I'm sorry Sona-kaichou.' Issei thought as the spear hit the barrier, making it explode into millions of pieces. The explosion of the barrier made Xenovia, Kiba, and Irina focus their attention to the two that were battling in the sky.

"Who is that person fighting Kokobiel?" Xenovia asked Kiba.

"That? I believe that is Issei-kun in his balance breaker." Kiba said as he stared at Issei.

"Issei-kun?" Irina said as she began to blush, reminiscing about her childhood.

 **[Boost]**

"Dammit Kokobiel!" Issei said as he lunged forward towards Kokobiel. Kokobiel, who has just raised his aura yet again basically flicked Issei away sending him plummeting to the ground with his wing.

"Gahh." Issei spat blood out of his mouth as he was laying on the ground.

"Well, I guess I was hoping you would have more power than this, Sekiryuutei. I guess it was fun while it lasted." Kokobiel said as he formed his sword of light again but this time much more intense. Kokobiel lunged down, getting ready to impale his sword of light into Issei's chest.

"Issei! No!" A girl screamed as she ran towards him. Issei, who knew he wouldn't be able to get out of the way before being impaled with Kokobiel's spear, began thinking to himself. 'I'm sorry Serafall-sama. Looks like I won't be able to fulfill my blood oath.' Issei thought as he accepted that he was about to be killed. However, suddenly he could see a woman with chestnut colored hair, jump in front of him and kick him out of the path of Kokobiel's spear. However, in doing so, she had to put her in the path instead. As he saw blood splatter all over the ground Issei's eyes widened.

"I-I-I-Irina? Did you just? No! Irina! Why? Why would you do that!" Issei screamed as he saw his childhood friend with a spear of light through her chest.

"I-I-Issei-kun. Gahh" Irina spit out several pools of blood. "I-I'm sorry." Sona who had just arrived and saw the situation knew what possibility could come next. 'Oh no! This is not good! I remember Hyoudou-kun telling me that woman was his childhood friend. If she dies, he will be pushed over the edge. And the chances of her dying, it's guaranteed.' Sona thought to herself.

"D-Dammit Irina! Why did you do it! Why did you take my place!" Issei screamed as tears were running down his cheeks.

"I-I'm so sorry, Issei-kun." Irina said knowing that she was going to die. Everyone was staring at the situation in horror.

"You pesterous church followers! You guys always getting in the way! And this time, quite literally." Kokobiel said while laughing. Issei, who was starting to give off an enormous amount of aura started talking.

"Y-Y-You're going to pay for this! I am not going to let you get away with this Kokobiel!" Issei said as his eyes turned green and his aura grew even larger. Suddenly, Issei's gauntlet started to talk.

" **Rias Gremory!"** Ddraig said in a serious tone.

"D-Ddraig? What is it?" Rias asked.

" **I must let you know that currently, my partner, Issei, because of the ager from that girl's death, he is being plunged into the Juggernaut Drive. If you and your peerage do not leave now, you will most defiantly die."** Ddraig said as you could hear Issei begin to talk.

"I, who was about to awaken,"

"Oh no! It's started! Everybody we must leave now!" Sona said as she thought to herself. 'Hurry up! If you do not get here soon, things are going to end very badly.'

"Am the Heavenly Dragon who has stolen the principle of domination of from God"

"Very interesting! It seems he has started to say the Juggernaut Drive chant. This will be an interesting fight for sure." Kokobiel said as he started to raise his aura yet again however, even Kokobiel knew that he had no chance of beating the Juggernaut Drive.

"I laugh at the infinite, and I grieve at the dream"

"If we do not stop him from transforming, he will not only destroy the school but the whole city as well." Sona said while staring at Issei not know what to do.

"I shall become the red dragon of domination and I shall skin you in the de -"Issei suddenly stopped chanting when someone wrapped their arms around Issei and held him in tight. Issei stopped as he felt the void in his stomach suddenly full.

"Issei-kun. You must calm down before things get out of hand." A woman who appeared out of nowhere said. Everyone was staring at the woman, as she was the person they least expected to appear out of nowhere and start hugging Issei.

"Hmmm. How interesting. The mauo, Serafall Leviathan, comes to stop this boy from transforming into the Juggernaut Drive. Does this mean that he is more than just another person to you?" Kokobiel said while rubbing his chin.

"Kokobiel, you war maniac. You are going to pay for the trouble you have caused here!" Serafall said as she looked at Kokobiel with different colored eyes then she normally has. Usually her eyes are magenta however, now they were a light blue, and you could feel the temperature in the air drop.

"Oh, is that so. I guess we will see abou- "Kokobiel was cut off in the middle of his sentence when he was frozen solid in a block of ice.

"S-S-Serafall-sama? W-What is going on?" Issei asked as he could feel Serafall hugging him, but he did not remember what had happened. Or that Irina had died.

"You were in a battle with Kokobiel, a leader-class fallen angel, when you were being plunged into the Juggernaut Drive. So, I had to calm you down."

"The Juggernaut Drive? Ddraig, is that the form you were talking about earlier?"

" **Yes partner. The form I informed you of earlier is indeed the Juggernaut Drive."**

"Wow, and it was just an hour ago I was saying I needed to stay away from it. And it ends up that I was going to go into it. I guess I owe you some thanks for saving me from going into it so, thank you Serafall-sama." Issei said while making a smile. Serafall who began to blush and diverted her attention to the ground.

"You are welcome. I am just glad that you are ok." Serafall mumbled while she hugged him tighter. 'It's a shame that I cannot just take her now.' Issei thought as Rias stopped their hugging.

"Issei! Your behavior is currently very inappropriate." Hearing that Serafall stopped hugging Issei. Suddenly however, a voice said something to Issei, garnering everyone's attention.

"It seems you were able to defeat Kokobiel on your own Hyoudou Issei." A man said who was enveloped in a similar armor to Issei's except his was white. "Congratulations on being able to defeat him on your lonesome." The man said as he suddenly flew away.

"W-Who was that?" Issei said when his gauntlet started to talk again.

" **That was Albion. The heavenly dragon that I was fighting with when we got sealed into sacred gears."**

Ddraig said out loud so everyone could hear.

"W-Wait! That was the white one?" Issei said as he gulped.

"It appears that my work here is done. I will be leaving now" Serafall said while looking at Issei.

"You're leaving already?"

"Yes, sadly I have some important mauo stuff to do. Also, I have to report on the situation that just happened to the other mauos."

"Ok. I guess I will talk to you at another time." Issei said as he saw a magic circle appear under Serafall's feat.

"How did Leviathan-sama know that Issei was transforming in the first place?" Rias asked with an upset face after seeing Issei and Serafall being all affectionate toward one another.

"I told her that Issei was on the verge of transforming." Sona said.

"Sona-kaichou, you're here too?" Issei asked as Sona nodded her head.

"Well, with all that being over with, I think it is time that we start fixing the school." Rias said as she signaled the others to try and hide Irina from Issei, as she was scared if he found out again about her death, that bad things would happen. 'What are we going to do about Irina? We can't hide it forever from him.' Rias thought as she got an idea. 'Hmmm, yes, that will work. Not only that but it will also benefit us.' Rias thought to herself as she and everyone started to fix the school grounds and using a device to erase the memory of the humans of what just happened except for Xenovia.


	6. Aftermath - revised

Disclaimer! No matter how hard I wish I do not own High School DxD in any way, shape, or form!

" " – Somebody Talking

' ' – Somebody Thinking

" " – _Flashback_

" " – **Ddraig Talking**

' ' – **Ddraig Thinking**

 **[ ] – Boosted Gear**

* * *

Issei was sitting on the ground were the battle between him and Kokobiel took place. 'Man, look at all this carnage. If only I remembered what happened here.' Issei was looking around at everyone when he noticed someone was missing.

"U-Umm, guys. W-Where's Irina-chan?" Hearing Issei's words everyone put a scarred look on their faces and Xenovia began to get watery eyes.

Xenovia mumbled her name. "Irina" Xenovia turned her face and started shedding tears. Seeing this Issei had a good idea of what happened. 'N-No. What happened to Irina?'

"I-Irina-san went back home." Kiba said trying to hide what happened. Issei then started thinking to himself trying to figure out what happened. 'Wait. I know that I would never voluntarily go into the Juggernaut Drive. I was thrusted into it. But, in order for that to happen, I would need to have felt rage at least three times more powerful than when I was thrusted into the Balance Breaker.'

"You're lying!" Issei put on angered eyes and clenched his fist making them shed blood. "I would only be thrusted into the Juggernaut Drive if I had anger that surpassed Ddraig's capabilities to handle. So, I know that you're lying." Everyone put on a scared face when they could feel a foul aura coming from Issei. Everyone was ready to run as they knew what would come next. However, before everyone ran, Sona stopped them.

"It's okay. He won't be thrusted into it again. Seeing her death and hearing of it is different." Hearing what Sona said everyone was relived.

Hearing what Sona said Issei's eyes widened and he mumbled to himself. "I-Irina's death? So, Irina is, d-dead?" Issei started punching the ground making his whole hand start to bleed. "Why! Why her! Why do I always have to be too weak! I'm sorry Irina, I couldn't save you! It's all my fault!" Watching what Issei was doing Asia began to break down and fell to her knees sobbing, the scene reminding her of the time Raynare killed her.

"Issei. It's not your fault. No one is blaming you for what happened. Irina sacrificed her life to allow you to continue living on." Rias said while trying to get closer to Issei to try and comfort him however, as she got close Issei's aura exploded and threw Rias on her back.

"What? What do you mean Irina sacrificed her life all to allow me to continue living? You're telling me, the reason Irina is dead, Is because I couldn't keep myself alive!" Issei screamed as his aura kept growing along with his rage. Issei hadn't stopped punching the ground yet, and at this point the only thing left of his hand was blood and bones. "I promise you Irina. I will not waste this chance you gave me. I am going to kill him. Along with anyone who decides to get in my way." Hearing this, everyone put on worried looks and shuttered, knowing that this resolve would most likely start a war, and no one here was powerful enough to stop him from waging it.

"Issei! That is not what Irina would have wanted! She did what she did, so you could go on living a peaceful life. Not so you could throw away your life away over revenge. Her sacrifice was not intended to make you into an avenger!" Rias shouted while trying to get close to comfort him again. Rias was successful in getting close to him this time and managed to hug him. "It's okay Issei. Everything will be okay." Issei didn't budge and instead talked in an irritated tone.

"Rias-san" Hearing what Issei said everyone put on a shocked look and questioned him.

"Rias-san? Why did you call her that? Is this you saying you're leaving her household?" Sona questioned. 'This isn't good. He won't be thrusted into the Juggernaut Drive, but his rage is making him make rash decisions.'

"Rias-san, get off me" Rias put on a shocked and terrified expression.

"W-What did you say?"

"Did I stutter? I said, get off me! NOW!" Issei yelled scaring everyone and started to make most of the Gremory group cry. Rias pushed off Issei. Issei stood up, turned his back on everyone and began to walk away.

"Does this mean you are becoming a stray?" Rias was still sobbing and was being comforted by Akeno.

Issei stopped and stood where he was temporarily and began to speak. "No. I'll still do my contracts, however, don't expect to see me at the ORC or any of the meetings." After saying what he needed to say, he started to walk away again.

"Hyoudou-kun!"

"What is it Sona-kaichou? Say it quickly I'm on a clock."

"Hyoudou-kun, you do realize by doing this you are breaking your blood oath." Issei stopped and stood where he was at for a few seconds, but soon began walking again.

"Yea, we'll just have to see about that."

"Sekiryuutei wait!" A blue haired woman said while running towards Issei.

"Nothing you say will make me want to stay. I am going to kill Kokobiel and everyone who stands with him. And none of you are going to stop me." Rias and everyone started sobbing harder, knowing that Issei had been emotionally scarred by what happened to Irina.

"I know that, and I am not going to try and convince you to stay. Quite the opposite. I am coming with you, I as well want to kill that bastard." Issei chuckled at the thought of someone from the church trying to kill a leader class fallen angel.

"Very well, however, I want to know why you want to. I find it hard to believe the church would let you do something like this."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that. Know that I know that god is dead, I will be declared a heretic and be exiled. Without god I have no purpose in life. I want to find one, and I'm hoping you can show me one." Nobody knew how to react but stare and try to comprehend what just happened.

"What are you talking about?" Issei said with a curious look.

"What do you mean? I thought I had a good explanation." Xenovia said, genuinely confused.

"Yes, the explanation was good, however, you are speaking of god being dead. What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, that's right. You were not there when Kokobiel told everyone. Kokobiel told us that god had died along side the devil kings in the three-way war. We didn't believe him at first however, Valper Galilei proved it when Yuuto made a sword with both holy and devil powers. Because god and the original devil kings are dead, Yuuto was able to combine devil and holy powers." Issei with shocked eyes understood why Xenovia was joining him on his vendetta now.

"But still, it's a shock to find out that god is actually dead."

"Yes. I don't know what to think of it. All I know is that the one purpose I had in life is now gone, and I want to find a new one. I'm hoping that this vendetta will be my new purpose. To avenge my fallen comrade."

"I understand. Well, if we don't hurry, we won't ever find out were Kokobiel is." After talking to Xenovia, and deciding if he wanted to take her with him, he sent her ahead of him, so he could say his goodbyes. But, suddenly Issei heard a familiar voice.

"I-Issei-kun" Issei's eyes widened and his hand began to shake. 'T-That voice. That's Irina's! I'm already going insane.' Issei hit his head a couple times and turned to where the voice was coming from. When he turned, he saw Irina standing behind him.

"I'm already losing my mind. I'm sorry Irina-chan, I'll make all of this right soon enough." Issei said while he summoned his armored wings and jetpack and headed towards Xenovia, still convinced that the Irina he saw was a figment of his imagination.

"Issei-kun wait! It's really me!" Irina said but, Issei was already too far away to hear her.

* * *

It had been a few hours and everyone except for Sona and her household were at the ORC. Everyone had found their composure again, except for Asia. Asia was still sobbing. Not only did she find out god has been dead for centuries, but, she watched Irina die right in front of her, she watched Issei almost go into the Juggernaut Drive, and saw Issei lose his mind as he beat his hand to a bloody pulp. And after all that, the person she loves more than life itself, left her alone when she needed him the most.

"What are we going to do? Not just about Issei-kun, but also Asia-chan. The poor girl has been emotionally scarred." Akeno said while running her hand through Asia's hair, but, Asia didn't even acknowledge anyone was in the room.

"Well, to be honest I don't know what we are going to do about Issei or Asia. But, one thing is quite apparent to me. Asia won't get better until Issei returns." Rias said, though she started to cry thinking about everything that just happened. 'Issei. Please, come back. Not just Asia needs you. But I also need you. So please, come back to me.' Akeno who noticed Rias crying, knew that there was no trying to comfort her right now. After all, Akeno knows about Rias' feelings for Issei.

"We need to think of where Issei-kun would go. It is obvious that he is going to be looking for Kokobiel, or wherever he is being held. With his current situation, I believe he is going to try and force those answers out of someone. Does anybody know where Issei-kun would go to do that?" Kiba said while looking at everyone, but no one gave a response or even acknowledged Kiba said anything. "Guys. I know that Issei is gone, but us sitting here, hoping he will come back, won't do anything!"

"Yuuto is right you guys. We need to formulate a plan." Rias said.

"Wait. What about his fist. He's not going to be able to go far in his fist's current condition. My guess is, he's going to seek out treatment. But who do you think he will call for help?"

"No, my guess is his fist is fine. When Issei gets angry enough, he unleashes a weird aura that heals him. No one knows what this is but I'm sure he is fine."

"Not only that Rias-san, but Xenovia has a bit of knowledge in the medical field. She might not be on par with Akeno-senpai or Asia-kun, but I'm sure she could at least bandage him for the time being." Irina said. It was then that Kiba remembered something he saw the other day.

 _It was in the ORC and Issei had just gotten back from fulfilling one of his contracts._

" _Buchou. Would you mind if I took a shower here? The contract I just did got a little messy." Issei was covered in honey._

" _Well, I would ask why you are covered in honey, but it's probably best being untold." Kiba said while chuckling._

" _You are right. It's better off not being explained."_

" _It is fine Issei. Just remember to get a change of clothes before getting in the shower."_

 _Once Issei had gotten in the shower, Kiba could see a blue light glow underneath the curtains and Issei was talking. 'Is Issei-kun talking to himself? Might as well listen in." When Kiba started listening to Issei, he could hear another person's voice._

" _No, I haven't gotten the chance to ask Rias about the two from the church yet. But, I promise if anything comes up, I will fill you in immediately Serafall-sama."_

' _Serafall-sama? Issei-kun is talking to Leviathan-sama? And what's this about people from the church?' After thinking to himself he saw the light disappear and Issei went quiet. 'I guess their conversation is over.' Kiba thought as he returned to his seat_

After remembering what he heard the other day, and what Issei said when Sona confronted him about a blood oath, Kiba figured out a way to find Issei.

"I believe I know how to find Issei-kun. I'm sure that Issei will respond if Leviathan-sama contacts him."

"Leviathan-sama? You mean the mauo? What makes you so sure of that?" Irina asked Kiba

"Well, you see, Issei-kun's goal in life is to gain the respect of the mauo's and pursue a relationship with Leviathan-sama." Irina looked at Kiba in shock and questioned him.

"Well, even if that is Issei-kun's goal, how do you know that Leviathan-sama will even help us?"

"Judging by the way she acted before, Issei-kun is not the only person that is hoping for this goal to be achieved. It seems that Leviathan-sama has grown romantic feelings for Issei-kun." Irina's eyes widened, and she looked over at Rias. Rias knew what the way Irina was looking at her meant.

"Yes Irina, what Yuuto says is true." Irina's eyes widened even further as she looked down at the ground.

"Well, considering what you say is true. It is most likely the best option." Irina says while still looking at the ground with widened eyes.

"Yes, I agree. Akeno." Rias says, signaling Akeno to try and contact Serafall.

"Right away Rias." Akeno stepped out of the room and began trying to contact Serafall.

"Rias-sama. In order to gain the mauo's respect, what will Issei-kun have to do?" A worried Irina asked.

"Well, to start off, he would have to far surpass his current power. Right now, Issei has just scratched the surface of his power. Once he grows strong enough to control the Juggernaut Drive's power, he might gain the respect from one or two, or at least the eyes of them."

"And how close is Issei-kun to this?"

"Well, that is hard to judge, the only person who knows this for sure is Ddraig, but Issei has just recently been able to go into his balance breaker and still has a decently long timer till he can go into it. However, Issei's growth rate is unheard of. It only took him a month of being a devil to become powerful enough to defeat a marque among the devils."

"Really? That is impressive. So, what I am getting from this is that normally, it would take decades, but with Issei's growth rate it might take months."

"Yes, however, strength is not the only thing. Yes, brute strength is a big deciding factor, but he will also have to gain knowledge as a strategist, and knowledge of many mythologies."

"What made Ise-kun decide this as his path in life? Do any of you know?"

"No. Nobody knows why. But, one day he did say something quite strange and unexpected to me." Rias said as she looked down into her lap and remembered back to the day he saved her from Riser. _'I'm sorry Buchou. I thought it would be different. I thought I would feel different after saving you.'_

"What was it?" Irina asked as everyone started to listen closely.

"Oh, don't worry about it, I'm sure it was nothing." Rias said as the clubroom door opened. It was at that moment they could feel the temperature in the room drop almost instantly. "I guess Akeno made contact." Rias said as Akeno walked in the room with a beautiful girl standing behind her.


	7. Reunion - revised

Disclaimer! No matter how hard I wish I do not own High School DxD in any way, shape, or form!

" " – Somebody Talking

' ' – Somebody Thinking

" " – _Flashback_

" " – **Ddraig Talking**

' ' – **Ddraig Thinking**

 **[ ] – Boosted Gear**

* * *

Issei and Xenovia are currently sitting at a table at a local café, drinking tea. Issei grabs his teacup and takes a sip from it before speaking.

"Xenovia-chan. I'm going to be leaving soon." Xenovia looks at Issei's arm that is wrapped in a bandage because of what he did to himself earlier that day.

"Are you sure? Your hand hasn't fully healed just yet."

"Don't worry about that. Where I'm going doesn't need me to fight at all."

"Oh. So, then it is safe to assume this doesn't have anything to do with Kokobiel."

Issei clenches his fist, just the sound of Kokobiel's name was enough to make him angered. "No. It doesn't have anything to do with him. I promised that I would still do my devil duties, so I don't become stray, and in an hour, I have a contract to fulfill." The contract Issei had to do was with a mysterious rich guy that often summoned Issei just to talk, play video games, or go fishing.

"Oh, I see. Well, that can't be helped I guess."

"Yea. Anyways, I know you don't have anywhere to go so if you want. you can come to the contract with me. We're just going fishing so I'm sure he won't mind you coming." Issei says as he takes another sip of his tea.

"Ok, that is fine. I will accompany you to this contract then."

It had already been an hour, and Issei and Xenovia had just arrived at the normal fishing spot, where they saw the guy sitting on the dock with a fishing pole in his hands.

"Hey there devil boy. Looks like you brought a guest with you." The rich man says while looking at Xenovia in a weird way.

"Yea. This is Xenovia, if you don't mind, she will be accompanying us tonight." Xenovia, who was standing behind Issei stepped forward and introduced herself.

"Hello, my name is Quarta Xenovia. If it is alright, I would like to accompany you tonight with Issei." Xenovia said, however, she didn't like the feeling she got off this guy and decided to stay on her guard.

"That is alright with me. Although, I only brought two poles, I hope you don't mind."

"That is fine. I did not have any interest in fishing anyways."

"Ok, then come sit down."

Issei had been fishing with the mysterious rich guy for a while now. The rich guy, who never told Issei his real name, spoke to him.

"What's the matter devil boy. It looks like something is troubling you."

Issei clenched his fist again making them bleed remembering what happened earlier today. "It's nothing. Just haven't been having a very good day."

"Ah, I see. Everybody has those days. Although, I must admit. I was surprised when you brought someone from the church along with you today." Xenovia quickly looked at the man and got ready to summon Durandal. Issei stopped Xenovia before she summoned Durandal and cut the man down.

"So, how did you know my friend was from the church?"

"Simple, from the aura she emits. Also, before I forget, I would like to thank you for taking care of Kokobiel for me." As soon as he heard this man say Kokobiel's name he summoned the gauntlet and tried to grabbed a hold of him, however, before he could do that, the man stood up and introduced himself.

"Forgive me, I never introduced myself. Allow me to do that now, my name is Azazel, otherwise known as the governor of the fallen angels." Azazel said while summoning his 12 fallen angel wings. Issei immediately stood up and grabbed ahold of Azazel.

"If you're the governor of the fallen angels, then you know where that bastard is! And you're going to tell me exactly where he is!"

"Who? Kokobiel? Sorry to tell you, but he is currently frozen in the lowest level of hell right now. And if you don't mind, could you remove your hands from me?" Issei who somewhat calmed down since he could tell Azazel had no hostility at all, so Issei reluctantly decided to remove his hands from Azazel. Azazel patted off his clothes then spoke again. "Look, I heard that Kokobiel killed one of your friends, however, don't be so sure that she is actually dead." Issei got angered again hearing what he said.

"Shut up! I heard what killed her, and there isn't any chance that she survived. She was stabbed through the chest with Kokobiel's spear of light, and then sat there for several minutes as she bled out! No matter how much I hope, she's dead. Everybody there watched her die!" Issei started emitting another foul red aura that burned the bandage off his hand, however, Xenovia noticed once the bandage was removed that his hand was healing at an abnormal rate.

"That is not what I mean. I'm sure that Kokobiel killed her, however, I'm not so sure that she stayed dead for very long." Issei's eyes widened as he began thinking to himself. 'Didn't stay dead for very long? What in the hell does he mean by that?'

"What do you mean didn't stay dead for long?"

"I mean, to my understanding, Rias Gremory still has 2 evil pieces left. So, I will ask you this, are you sure that girl is still dead?"

Hearing Azazel's words, Issei's eyes widened as he walked past Azazel and started leaving. "Xenovia-chan, come on, we're leaving. We are going to the ORC right now!" Xenovia, who was standing on the docks with Durandal in her hands, started slowly walking. 'Could it be? Could Irina have been reborn as a devil?' Xenovia thought.

"Hey, devil boy. One last thing before you go. Soon their will be a 3-leader summit between the devils, fallen angels, and angels. I expect to see you there."

"Yea, whatever." Issei said taking note of what Azazel said, but didn't have the time to stop and question Azazel about it.

* * *

The Gremory group were at the ORC talking to Serafall Leviathan, who had just arrived after Akeno contacted her. After informing her of the situation Serafall spoke.

"I see. So, after I left, Issei-kun went after Kokobiel out of revenge?"

"Yes, that is correct." Rias said.

"And, what would you like me to do about this exactly?

"Well, we would like you to try and contact Issei-kun. We believe he will answer if it is you." Kiba said.

"I'm sorry Rias-san, but if that is what you want of me I cannot do that."

"And why not? Could this have anything to do with personal feeling?" Rias says with an irritated voice.

"No, of course not. But, it is to my understanding that he still does his duties as a devil, does he not?"

"Yes. He said he will still do his duties as a devil. What does that matter?"

"Well then, if he is still doing his devil duties then he is doing nothing wrong, and if he does not want to see you, then I have no obligation to help you. That is, unless you yourself want to classify him as a stray. In which case, he will be killed." This made Rias angry and lose her temper.

"I'd rather not classify Issei as a stray, however, I must ask, if it was Issei asking this favor, would you do it?" Realizing what Rias just accused Serafall of, she got very worried of what would come next.

"I'm sorry, but I do not think that kind of tone is something you speak to a mauo with." Serafall was angered and her aura started getting stronger.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I should not have accused you of such things. But, is it true?" Rias and everyone was starting to realize it was getting harder and harder to breathe because of Serafall's aura raising. Before everyone in the room suffocated, the doors to the ORC opened revealing Issei and Xenovia. After seeing Issei, Serafall's aura went down drastically, allowing Rias and the others could breathe normally again.  
"Issei-kun. I didn't expect to see you here after what I had heard."

"Serafall-sama. I didn't expect to see you here either." Issei scanned the room and saw the chestnut colored hair he was looking for. Issei's eyes widened and he dropped to his knees.

"Azazel-san was right. Buchou used one of her evil pieces on her." Hearing what Issei said, Serafall raised an eyebrow.

"Azazel? The governor of fallen angels?"

"Yes. He has secretly been pretending to be a human while summoning me to fulfill contracts. He just revealed himself after suggesting that Buchou used an evil piece on Irina-chan. Also, I need to speak with you about something that Azazel said, in private."

"Ok, then let's step into another room."

Issei and Serafall stepped into the room next to them, but not before Issei told Xenovia to make sure no one eavesdropped on them.

"So, what is it that you wanted to tell me Issei-kun?"

"Before I tell you, I need to apologize. I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble, it was never my intention."

"It is alright Issei-kun. What matters now is that you came back. Now, what did Azazel tell you?"

"Well, he said that there is going to be a 3-leader summit being held. Is that true?"

"Yes. It is being held at Kuoh Academy after open house. Is that all? I do not see that being something you need to talk in private about."

"No, that is not it. Azazel also told me that he expects to see me there. Is there any reason he would want me there?"

"No, not that I can think of. However, Azazel wanting you to be there, that is interesting. I suggest not telling the others. You should not worry them if it is not needed. I don't have any idea why he would want you there, but I promise you, I won't let him do anything to harm you." Issei blushed and turned his head.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Issei's voice then got serious as he looked as Serafall and spoke again.

"Serafall-sama, I promise you, I will fulfill my blood oath, and there is nothing that is going to get in the way of that."

Serafall pulled Issei into a slight embrace and spoke softly to him. "Thank you, and I hope that you will fulfill that promise soon enough too, but until then, could you do me a favor and not get caught up in thoughts of revenge."

"I promise I won't. If you want me to drop my vendetta then consider it already done." Issei said as Serafall released him from her embrace. "Thank you. I have duties to get back to now. Until next time." Issei waved as Serafall teleported away.

After Serafall had teleported away, he prepared himself for what came next. He was fully prepared for the beating of his life he was about to get, however, when he opened the door he heard a conversation he did not expect in the slightest.

"WHAT! Xenovia-chan! You want to be reborn as a devil?!" Irina yelled at Xenovia.

"I don't see what the problem is. After all, you are already a devil." Xenovia snorted at Irina.

"Yea, but it's not like I had much of a choice in the matter." Irina says softly as she turned away from Xenovia. Xenovia then noticed that Issei was done talking to Serafall and asked him a question.

"Issei-kun, you do not mind if I become a devil. Do you?" Issei's eyes widened.

"Are you serious? You want to become a devil?"

"I thought I told you before. Without god, I don't have a purpose in life. I still believe that you can show me a purpose."

"Oh, is that so? Well then, I don't see any problems with that, but you don't necessarily have to be a devil to do so."

"Yes, I know that, but I have already thought it over, and I would like to become a devil." Everyone put on a shocked face and Irina began to pout.

"Well, I wouldn't mind adding the Durandal user into my ranks." Rias said while looking at a rook evil piece. "However, I only have a rook left, I'm not so sure that a rook would fit your abilities. A rook is usually given to people with technique types."

"Yes, I see. So, if I train to become a technique type, would you then give me your rook?"

"Well, if you became a technique type, I wouldn't see any problem with giving you the rook. After all, right now a knight would best suit you, however, you don't even use speed that much. By my understanding, you have a high destructive power. After all, you can wield Durandal, which that takes an enormous amount of destructive power. If you became a rook, your destructive power would be increased."

"Yes, it is true that my destructive power is very high. It is the reason why I am able to wield Durandal."

"Also, we have the cores from the Excalibur's that Freed was wielding. I'm sure we would be able to add those to your Durandal. If we did that, you could become a strong technique type, with training of course." Hearing what Rias said about the Excalibur's, Xenovia was put in a dilemma.

"Combine the Excalibur's with my Durandal? Well, I guess if that is what it takes to have you use your rook on me, then I will do it." After Rias and Xenovia's conversation was over, Irina continued to pout and Rias looked at Issei.

"So, are you done with your thoughts of revenge?"

"Yes. If I was to get caught up in revenge I would not be able to fulfill my blood oath." This made Rias feel mixed emotions, she was glad Issei was back, but she was upset that Issei was back only because of Serafall. However, Rias put on a fake smile and endured it.

"Ok, that makes me very happy however, don't think this will go unpunished."

"Yes, I know, and I am willing to take any punishment you give me Buchou. I am sorry for acting so rash. I didn't consider what it did to the people I hold dear to me."

"Ok, then your punishment is allowing Xenovia-chan to stay with you." Issei looked up with a confused face.

"Allow Xenovia-chan to stay with me? You mean allow Xenovia-chan to move into my household?"

"Yes, she doesn't have anywhere to go, and the places that I can give her only allow devils. So, until she becomes a devil, she cannot live there."

"Ok, very well. If that is the punishment you give me, then okay. However, shouldn't you ask Xenovia-chan first?"

"I'm sure Xenovia-chan is fine with it. You can ask her yourself though." Issei turned around and looked at Xenovia.

"Well, do you want to?"

"It is fine with me. Being closer to you will also make it easier for me to find a purpose in life." Issei looked down and sighed. Issei then started mumbling, "Looks like the house is going to get a bit more crowded." Asia who was sitting on the couch and had finally come back to reality once Issei returned to the ORC, was in disagreement. She did not like the idea of another girl moving into Issei's house. Issei looked at Asia and apologized to her.

"I'm sorry Asia-chan. I didn't think about what my actions would do to you." Issei said as he pulled Asia into his embrace.

"Issei-kun, it's okay. I'm just glad that you came back to me and everyone else at the ORC."

"Asia-chan, I promise I will never do anything like that again." Issei said as he released Asia from his embrace. Asia looked at Issei and smiled as she wiped her tears.

Issei then looked over at Irina. "Irina-chan. I'm sorry." Issei said as he dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness.

"It's all my fault that you died. If I could've just kept myself alive, you wouldn't have been forced to be reborn."

Irina looked at Issei and smiled. "Issei-kun, It's okay. Although, my parents won't be very happy, now I get to grow closer to you."

"No, it is all my fault. If you want to punish me, you can."

Irina then started thinking. 'Punish him? Well, just like Xenovia-chan I don't have a place to stay either.'

"Okay. I will punish you." Issei looked up at Irina in terror, as he did not expect Irina to actually agree to punishing him.

"W-W-Wait. What?"

"Well, just like Xenovia-chan, I don't have a place to live either, so you're punishment is letting me move in as well."

"B-B-But. Unlike Xenovia-chan you're a devil so you can stay at one of the places Buchou gives you."

"No. That won't do! You said I could punish you and this is what I choose."

"But, we don't have anymore room." Issei was grasping for straws. He would say anything at this point to not have another girl move into his house.

Asia realized their conversation and saw this as a good opportunity to deepen her and Issei's relationship. "W-Well. I could move into your room with you Issei. Then Irina could stay in my room."

Everybody's eyes opened wide especially Issei. "W-W-Wait, WHAT?! Move into my room?"

"Y-Yea. I mean, I sleep in there almost every day anyways."

"Yea but, if you moved into my room." Issei decided not to finish his sentence. Issei did enjoy the thought of Asia sleeping with him every single night, but he was also thinking about how he wouldn't ever be able to have fun by himself if she moved into his room. His idea of fun involving lotion, magazines, and a right hand.

"Well, then it's decided. I am moving into your house."

Issei looked down again and sighed. 'This is great. I'm not getting out of this one. Will I ever get a break?' Issei thought as he started to pout.

* * *

Issei was sleeping in his bed, along with his new roommate Asia. Issei was currently in his dreams talking to Ddraig.

" **Partner, before we start training, we need to talk about something."**

"What is it Ddraig? Is everything okay? You're not going to tell me you're dying or something are you?"

" **Everything is fine, I'm not dying. It's about earlier. On the dock when your aura healed your hand, just like the time against Riser when it healed your face."**

"Oh, it's about that. I just figured it was a power that the Sekiryuutei had."

" **No, it's not. In fact, you're the first possessor to have this power."**

"Do you know why? Or what this power even is?"

" **I have no clue. So that's why I want to test the power."**

"W-W-Wait. What do you mean by test the power?"

" **What I just said. I'm going to test it."**

"B-But how?"

" **Isn't that obvious? I'm going to burn you and see what happens."**

"NO! Get me out of here, I don't want to train with you anymore, you're to violent. I don't want to get burned!"

" **Sorry partner, but I told you. Until you gain the respect of the mauos, I will be training you, and unless you never sleep again till then, you won't escape me."**

"Ok, but if you burn me and it doesn't heal, then were not doing it again."

" **Ok, deal"** Ddraig said as he started to form fire and shot Issei's arm with it.

"Ddraig! That really hurt! At least give me a warning next time!" Issei looked at his arm, but it didn't show any sign of healing. "It didn't even work. I got burnt for nothing!"

" **Hmmmm. Well I mean what did you expect. After all you are one of the weakest possessors in history.** **It makes me wonder how that Serafall person ever fell for you. She must have really bad taste, but then again I could say the same about your taste."**

Ddraig's words pissed Issei off, but what Issei didn't realize was this was all apart of Ddraig's plan. While Issei started emitting a foul aura again he started yelling at Ddraig. "What do you mean I have bad taste! Are you calling Serafall-sama ugly?! I swear I will beat the shit out of you Ddraig."

" **Partner, before you do that and get your ass kicked, you should look at your hand."**

Issei looked at the hand that was just burned, however, this time when he looked at it, it didn't have a scratch on it. "Wait, how did this happen?"

" **It seems that when you release your aura, it heals you. The trigger for this seems to be your anger and rage. I'm not quite sure yet why you have this power, but I guess the answers will come in time."**

"So, does this mean you were lying when you said I had bad taste and was one of the weakest Sekiryuutei in history?"

" **Well, yes and no. The part about you having bad taste was a lit, but the part about you being the weakest possessor and her having bad taste for falling for you, that wasn't a lie."**

"Dammit Ddraig! Now you've done it! I'm going to kick your ass this time!" Ddraig chuckled as Issei started his training session with Ddraig.


	8. The Fruits of Training

Disclaimer! No matter how hard I wish I do not own High School DxD in any way, shape, or form!

" " – Somebody Talking

' ' – Somebody Thinking

" " – _Flashback_

" " – **Ddraig Talking**

' ' – **Ddraig Thinking**

 **[ ] – Boosted Gear**

* * *

It had been a few days since the incident with Kokobiel and the aftermath. For right now, Issei was living a normal life. Well, as normal as it gets for a devil with a legendary power, living with 3 girls, one of which is living in his room with him, and being the servant of a marque from the House of Gremory. Issei's current life was always on repeat, go to school, get his devil duties done, go home, get his ass kicked by Ddraig, wake up, and repeat. 'Man, it sounds weird, but I can't wait for the leader summit. At least it will be more interesting than my current situation.' Issei thought while lying in his bed. 'Well, at least open house is happening today. That ought to be interesting.'

"Hey Asia-chan, get up. It's time to go to school." Issei said to the blonde-haired woman who had latched herself to Issei's side while she slept.

"Just five more minutes. I want to be close to you like this for a bit longer." Every day since Asia moved into Issei's room, she did this. Even though Issei acted like he didn't like it, it gave him reassurance knowing that Asia was always by his side and was safe.

"But, if you don't get up, you won't have enough time to fix your hair. It's a mess and it's open house today." Hearing Issei's words, Asia shot up from the bed and was now wide awake.

"Ok, then I will get started on breakfast too." Asia said as she left the room. 'This happens every day, but at least I know she's safe by my side. Well, I better get up and get ready for school too.'

Issei, Xenovia, Irina, and Asia were at the table eating their breakfast along with Issei's parents. Issei's mom who was sitting next to Issei leaned in close to his ear and whispered to him.

"So, when can I expect my first grandchild?" Issei did a spit take, all the milk that was previously in his mouth sent flying across the table and all over his father's face and newspaper.

"W-What?!"

"Well, Asia-san moved into your room with you, and she sleeps in the same bed with you every day. Your saying nothing is going on?" His mother gave a suspicious glare that proved to intimidate him. Luckily for him, there really was nothing going on between him and Asia, or he would have buckled under that glare and confessed everything. Thankfully, Issei held no romantic feelings for Asia, he had familial love for her, he saw her as his innocent little sister, even though he was older by only a couple months at most.

"MOM! Asia-chan only moved into my room so Irina-chan and Xenovia-chan would be able to move in!"

"Yea, but Irina-san, Xenovia-san, and Asia-san could have shared a room." Hearing his mom's words, Issei started to think to himself. 'Why didn't I think of that earlier. If I had suggested that, I might have been able to get out of the situation I'm in.'

"Look mom. Nothing is going on between Asia-chan and me, so don't be expecting any grandchildren for a very long time." Issei not realizing he said that loud enough for everyone to hear, looked around and saw that everyone's jaw had dropped to the floor. 'Great, now I'm going to have to explain another misunderstanding.'

"This is too much for me to deal with. I'm going to school now." Issei said as he got up from the table and went to school.

Throughout the day at school it was a normal open house. Every class Issei went to, his parents recorded and embarrassed him. Now Issei and everyone else from the Gremory group were heading to the cafeteria where everyone's parents were at. While Issei was walking down the stairs, he saw his parents talking to a young-looking man with crimson hair, similar to Buchou's hair.

"Ah Issei, there you are." The crimson haired man focused his attention onto Issei at the mention of his name.

"Hi, I'm Hyoudou Issei. It's nice to meet you." Issei gave a polite bow in greetings.

The man then looked at Rias who was walking down the stairs Issei was previously. The man nodded at Issei. "Hello Issei-san, my daughter has told me a lot about you." That sentence confirmed Issei's suspicions, this man was defiantly Rias' father. "Speaking of my daughter, here she comes now."

"Hello father." Rias greeted her father with a smile. 'Hmmm, I wonder what Rias' father was doing talking to my parents.'

"We met Rias-san's father in this hallway here just a little bit ago. And here we are still talking in a hallway." Issei's father stated with a laugh.

"Umm. That's nice, I guess." Issei said.

"What do you say we take this back to my house. We could have a few drinks there as well." Issei's father said to Rias' dad.

"That sounds nice."

As Issei and Rias' father walked away together, Issei heard a chuckle coming from behind him.

"That's great. Looks like father is going to tie one on with the Hyoudou residence." Another crimson haired man said.

"Was this all you're doing Onii-san." Rias pouted.

"Yes, this was me. Anyways, I have decided that it is time for you to release the second bishop." Issei and Asia put on a confused face and looked at Rias. 'Second bishop?'

"Release the second bishop?" Rias said in shock, it was apparent that Rias did not want to do what Sirzechs requested of her. "Very well, if the mauo Lucifer requests of it, I can't deny."

"Good, then I will be going then. I trust the bishop will be released as soon as possible." Sirzechs said as he and a silver haired woman walked away.

"Buchou. What did Sirzechs-sama mean by second bishop?" Issei questioned.

Akeno looked at Issei and responded. "The second bishop is someone who was too powerful for his own good. They weren't able to control their power, so they had to be sealed away for their own good."

"Oh, I see. This second bishop must be really strong then."

"In a way, yes. Currently, he is not very strong, but the potential he could reach if he was trained, is very high." Rias explained. Issei nodded in understanding. After all, his situation was the exact same. Yes, he was revived with 8 pawn pieces, but the truth about it is, is that he himself was only worth one pawn and his Boosted Gear 7. He was merely worth 8 pieces because of the potential his sacred gear had.

"Wow. So, when will you release the bishop?" Issei asked. Rias seemed to think about it for a second before responding.

"I will release him tomorrow when everyone is at the ORC." Issei nodded.

"Buchou, can I ask a favor of you?" Rias rose an eyebrow and looked at him inquisitively. She nodded, signaling him to continue. "I would like to go on a training trip. Until the three-leader summit. I must get stronger, to protect those that I care about! So, nothing like what happened to Irina will happen to anyone else I care for ever again!" Issei said with fire in his eyes.

Rias sighed. "It would have been nice to have you here when we release the bishop, but if this is what you really want, then I see no problem with it." Rias ended with a smile.

"Are you sure? If you want me to wait until after you release the bishop, that's ok with me." Issei asked for confirmation. Rias just shrugged it off.

"Yes, im sure. We'll do just fine, they would never hurt any of us, there's no reason to worry." Issei nodded somewhat reluctantly. He really wanted to go on this small training trip, but he also wanted to be there to make sure the release of this bishop went ok.

Well, if Rias says that everything will be alright, then it will be ok. "Ok, I'll be leaving now then. Sadly, there's only 2 weeks until the three-leader summit. I need to use every second of that time to get stronger. If there's anything I've learned, it's that I need to get much stronger to protect the people precious to me."

Rias smiled at his determination. However, she also knew that he also wanted to do this so he would get stronger and earn the right to be with Serafall Leviathan. That part saddened her somewhat, but her servant's happiness was what mattered to her. And if he was happy being with someone else, then so be it. Even if it hurts to see him with someone else, if he's happy, she'll be happy.

"Ok, come back stronger Issei. Stronger than anyone could ever imagine, my cute servant." Rias said with a heart warming smile. Issei smiled back and nodded. He then turned to Asia and gave her an apologetic look.

"Sorry Asia-chan, looks like I won't be back home for a while." Asia gave him a bitter smile. "Oh no, it's ok. I understand. Don't worry, we'll be fine." Issei nodded and gave her a sad smile before starting to walk away.

"Well, I'll see you guys in two weeks then." Issei said. He continued walking away and gave them one last over the shoulder wave before leaving the cafeteria. This was the very same day he made a second unbreakable vow. That he would do everything in his power, even lay down his life, to protect the people he considered precious.

As Issei walked out of the school grounds and started to walk to the train station, he had a conversation with everybody's favorite red dragon. **"So Issei, what are your plans for these two weeks? You act as if you hit an epiphany."** Ddraig said to him. Issei nodded.

'I guess I did in a way. It was after the Kokobiel fight. I realized that I rely too heavily on your power. So, instead of trying to master your power, I'm going to work on strengthening myself first. That way, when I use your power, I'll be even stronger. After all, that's why the Boosted Gear is so feared right? They say that in the right hands it can surpass even God. Such as if someone like Sirzechs-sama had the Boosted Gear. Simply doubling his power once would be enough to rival a god.'

Inside of the gear, Ddraig smirked. Finally, a possessor that realized the true strength behind the boosted gear. All his previous possessors sought the path of mastering the gear and destruction. They all focused on unlocking the balance breaker and trying to unlock Juggernaut Drive. If they would have focused on simply strengthening themselves and not using his power, only when necessary, they would have been much stronger.

" **Very well, if that's what you want, I will support your decision 100% percent."** Ddraig said. Issei smiled, knowing that Ddraig would always have his back. 'You know Ddraig, I've been thinking, I think it would be best to have a fallback strategy in my fights. In the fight with Kokobiel, I could do nothing to him at long range, which he specializes in. That's too great a weakness, I need to fix it. That will be another goal to accomplish in these two weeks. To try and get rid of my weaknesses.'

Ddraig nodded again. Finally, someone who thinks with their mind and not their fists. 'But most of all, I must learn not to rely on _anything_. If I rely too heavily on one thing, and someone exploits that weakness, it will be my downfall.' Ddraig had to say, he really like the change in his partner.

" **Ok. If that is your goal, then we will do our best to accomplish it. Be ready for hell."** Ddraig warned his partner. Issei smirked and continued his trek to the train station. Never again, would someone he cared for be hurt. He would make sure of that.

* * *

A day later, we see Issei climbing a very, and I mean very, tall, snowy mountain. **"Partner, are you sure** _ **this**_ **is where you want to train? It's practically suicide!"** Issei smirked. "No pain, no gain, Ddraig. Besides, if I want to get as strong as I want to, I need to train in the hardest conditions possible. What conditions are worse than on Mount Everest?" Issei was indeed currently at Mount Everest. The tallest mountain on Earth.

Ddraig groaned, naturally as a dragon who specializes in fire, he did not like how cold and snowy this place was. Not to mention, the air was getting thinner and thinner the higher Issei got up which meant it would get harder to breath, and there would be less oxygen, meaning harder to make any flames, and add the coldness of the mountain and it would be unthinkable to even start a flame.

But alas, if Issei could train here, and actually master some of Ddraig's fire magic on Mount Everest, that would only make his attacks that much stronger when he was somewhere much easier to use fire magic. **"Well, you could at least have dressed properly to train up here! You're not even wearing a shirt! You do realize you are at one of the coldest places on Earth right!? Your going to freeze and die!"**

Issei chuckled. Currently, he was only wearing some underwear and shorts. No socks, no shoes, and no shirt. "Yes, I realize it's one of the coldest places on Earth. That's why im actively channeling fire magic throughout my body to keep it warm. That way I'll be able to use fire magic more on instinct than anything else, and of course the upside of my magic reserves constantly growing this way." Issei explained.

" **Ughh, fine! But if you get frostbite and die, it's all your fault! Don't say I didn't warn you!"** Issei smirked. "Aww, does that mean that the almighty Welsh Dragon cares about my wellbeing?" Ddraig huffed and decided to ignore him. "Oh, the silent treatment. Did I wound your pride, almighty Welsh Dragon?"

" **Jackass"** Was Ddraig's one-word response. Issei laughed at the childishness of his best friend. "Well, about an hour or two more, then we will be good at the top. And then I can finally stop carrying all this weight." Looking behind Issei, he was dragging several rocks and boulders attached to a rope while he ran as hard as he could up Mount Everest.

If he weren't a human/dragon/devil hybrid, this would be impossible. Hell, simply running up the mountain would be impossible. And if he was being honest, he felt like falling over and giving up. His whole body had a burning sensation, he could feel the effects from constantly using fire magic throughout his body slowly taking effect, and he could feel his muscles screaming at him to stop and take a break. But as Issei said before, no pain, no gain.

He pushed through with the exercise all the way to the top of Mount Everest, and the instant he reached the top, he dropped the weight, and fell on his back, panting. That was one hell of a workout. He stood up and walked over to where he dropped the boulders. Along with the strapped-on rocks and boulders, there was also several bags with everything he would need for the next two weeks.

After guzzling down several warm bottles of water, considering that cold water would only cause his body to go into shock and he would most likely die, he set up camp. His little one-person tent, simply there to protect him from the wind, and a sleeping bag. There was of course tons of food and water, and besides that, the only other things were training equipment. Varying from weights to weapons he planned on trying to learn to use.

"Well, let's get this training trip started, what do you say Ddraig?" Issei smirked when he heard the huff from his dragon best friend.

* * *

Two weeks later at the Kuoh Academy, we find Rias and her peerage, bar Issei, Koneko, and the newly released bishop Gasper, heading towards the main school building, where the meeting will take place. As they approached a double door, everyone stopped while Rias stopped forward and knocked on the door. They waited a few seconds before opening the door and entering the room.

Looking around the room, all the leaders of the three factions, bar Asmodeus and Beelzebub were there. On the devil side, there was Sirzechs Lucifer, Serafall Leviathan, and the Strongest Queen Grayfia Lucifige. On the Angel side, there was the Archangel and current ruler of heaven, Michael. On the Fallen Angel side, there was Azazel, governor of the fallen angels, and a man with silver hair and blue eyes with an air of arrogance surrounding him leaning against the wall.

Rias and her peerage members that were present stepped into the room and stood in front of the wall on the devil side in a line. Shortly after, Sona and her queen arrive. "It seems that someone is missing from your peerage Rias Gremory, do you mind telling us where the Red Dragon Emperor is currently?" Michael asked.

Rias nodded and stepped forward nervously. "Issei left for a training trip two weeks ago to get stronger. After the Kokobiel incident, he promised himself he would not let anyone he cared about get hurt again. He was supposed to come back today, but it appears he is running late." Rias said with some annoyance towards the end of her explanation.

Michael just nodded and sighed. "Very well, I suppose we'll have to start this meeting without him." Then they proceeded to start the meeting, I'm not going to write out the hole meeting as I'm sure you have all already seen or read it. If not, then go do so.

As the meeting started to come to an end, it appeared that everyone was in agreement, and that a peace treaty would be signed between the Angels, Fallen Angels, and Devils. Suddenly however, everyone in the room except for those with superior power such as the leaders and some others such as Vali, Grayfia, Xenovia, Kiba, and Irina were frozen.

Everybody was shocked at this development and went on guard. They looked around the room to see if this was a set up from any of the other sides, only to see they were all just as confused as they were. When they all focused their attention outside, they saw a large magic circle appear in the air and watched as hundreds of magicians came out and started to teleport the guards outside the school to an unknown area.

Since they were all frozen, they gave no resistance at all. Through all this confusion, Vali was ordered to go out and fend off the Magicians while they planned a counter attack. He agreed and did so, flying out the window and transforming into his balance breaker.

After several minutes of planning, everyone who wasn't frozen went outside and launched a counter attack. They gained the upper hand and slowly started getting rid of the magicians while Azazel had just finished fighting with a woman named Katerea Leviathan, but not without losing an arm in the process.

Everything was going according to plan until suddenly Azazel was shot with an attack in the back. He climbed out of the crater the attack put him in, seemingly unfazed. "Bad Vali!" Azazel said in a mock tone.

"Sorry Azazel, things looked more fun on this side." Vali said in a not so apologetic tone. Azazel smirked, seemingly unfazed by the betrayal of potentially his strongest subordinate.

"I understand, I can't say this wasn't expected. You were always a rebellious person." Azazel said. "You know my vice-govener Shemhazai? Don't you? Well, recently he informed me of a group called, what was it again? Ah, yes, the Khaos Brigade." Azazel said. Vali remained unfazed and silent.

"Khaos defiantly sounds about right." Commented Michael. Azazel ignored the comment and continued on. "Now I already my suspicions about you being in this Khaos Brigade and I'm not going to ask why you joined them but rather, who is the leader of this Khaos Brigade?" Azazel questioned.

"Very well, the leader of our group is Ophis. Don't take it personally though, I joined simply because I'd get to fight strong opponents." Vali stated. Everyone there who knew who Ophis was and were shocked by Vali's statement.

"The Dragon God of Infinity, huh? Can't say I expected that." Azazel said. "Well, it appears that time for chit chat is over, wouldn't you say, Vali?" The leaders of all factions got ready to jump into action and take out this new threat, that is until something unexpected happened.

Two knives were thrown through the air at lightning fast speeds, whizzing by Sirzechs' face and cutting a few strands of his hair, and imbedded themselves inside of Vali. One in his rotator cuff on his right shoulder, and another in his right Humorous. Rendering his right arm completely useless.

"Sate, Sate, Sate, what do we have here?" Sorry, couldn't help myself but copy that line from the Seven Deadly Sins. Anyways…

Everyone in the area turned their heads to find Issei walking up to them. Well, a very different Issei. This Issei was not the Issei they all had seen just two weeks ago, this Issei was _very_ different. For starters, this Issei had a much bigger build than the old Issei. His once cockroach like build had turned into one of someone who had been working out for years. He had arms nearly six times as big as his old ones, a 6 pack of abs, and pecs that looked to be made from stone.

Secondly, he had a new hairstyle. A completely different hairstyle. For one thing, his hair was now black and a lot less crazy and sticking up everywhere. Instead, it was somewhat shaggy at the top and had two long bangs framing the sides of his faces, going down to the level of his chin. (Minato Namikaze's hair but black.)

And finally, he had a much stronger aura than when he left. Everyone looked at him in shock as he stood there in a black, skin-tight, long-sleeved shirt. Overtop of that was a red zip-up jacket with no sleeves and a hood. He had black shorts and was currently walking barefoot.

On his back was 4 swords, all holstered. On his lower back, was another sword as well as two daggers. Inside of his jacket was an assortment of knives, fit for both throwing and close combat. Yea, this Issei defiantly dressed different. Whatever happened on his training trip, changed a lot about him.

He stopped about 5 feet in front of everyone and gave them a wave. "Yo! Been a while, hasn't it?" Issei said nonchalantly. Vali landed on the ground and pulled the knives out of his shoulder and elbow. He glared at Issei heatedly. He had seen the same kid only two weeks ago rely on nothing but his sacred gear, but now he was armed to the teeth with swords and knives and could use them like someone who had been using them for years. How could that even happen in a matter of two weeks?

"Issei?! Is that really you?!" Kiba asked, as he was one of the only ones able to form any words. Everyone else stared at him in shock. Even Koneko was staring at him with her mouth dropped. During the battle, Xenovia and Irina went and saved Gasper and Koneko from the Magicians hands before they could exploit his power any further and freeze even the three leaders.

"Uhh, yea. Who else would it be?" Issei asked while tilting his head. Most everyone sweat dropped. "It's about to time you showed up, but what's with th-"Kiba was cut off by Vali as he decided to intervein.

"Red Dragon, what the hell happened to you while you whe-"That's all Vali got out before he was slammed into a tree ten feet behind him by Issei. Issei, holding Vali in the air against the tree by his head stood there glaring at him.

"Don't you see we are having a reunion? It'd be rude to interrupt." Issei said coldly before dropping Vali onto the ground and appearing by everyone else within a blink of an eye. Everyone stared at him in shock. This defiantly wasn't the same Issei. "So, how've you all been? And also, what's going on here? I thought there was supposed to be a meeting, not a fight?" Issei said while tilting his head.

Both Sirzechs and Serafall smirked, it was apparent that they like this new Issei. "Oh, and also, where is Buchou?" Issei asked with question marks starting to appear over his head. But alas, Vali decided to interrupt again by trying to launch a surprise attack to Issei.

Issei had to bend his back backwards to almost a 90-degree angle and watched as Vali flew over top of him before Issei straightened his back out. He tilted his head backwards to see Vali behind him trying to engage him in combat.

"Why are you so dead set on interrupting my reunion?" Issei asked pouting. "Well, I guess if I have to rough you up a bit to have my reunion, then so be it." Issei said as he put his hands in his shorts pockets. Vali grew angry at the blatant show of disrespect and arrogance. "Well, come on." Issei said, taunting him.

Vali shot forward and threw a punch out at Issei's head, who tilted his head back and dodged it with ease. Vali follow up by trying to sweep out Issei's legs which resulted in Issei lifting his legs up to dodge them again. Vali, trying to capitalize on the fact that Issei was currently in mid-air, which meant he had no footing, launched a punch at his chest. To everyone's surprise and especially Vali's, Issei, in a show of agility, did a backflip landed a kick on Vali's chin, sending him airborne while Issei landed on his feet as if nothing happened.

Vali flipped and straightened himself and landed before jumping back into action and everyone watched as Vali threw punch and kick at Issei for minutes while Issei continued to dodge without taking his hands out of his pockets and had a bored look on his face the whole time.

Vali jumped back to catch his breath while Issei stood there unmoving, staring at Vali. "One hundred and eighty-seven times." Everyone looked at Issei confused as to what he meant. Vali was the one who stated his confusion however.

"187 times? 187 times what?" Vali asked. Issei just smirked. "187 times I found a hole in your defense where I could have given you a fatal wound and killed you. 187 times I decided not to kill you. Want to make it 188?" Everyone there went wide eyed, especially Vali. This whole time, he was just playing with him. Hell, he hadn't even used his Boosted Gear yet! How did he get so strong?! It didn't make sense!

Issei yawned. "Well, as fun as it is doing this little dance of yours, it's been two weeks since I last slept in a real bed. So, I think I'm going to end this, so I can go and get some sleep." Issei said plainly.

"Tch. Like you could do that. If you're so arrogant, then let's see how you handle the Juggernaut!" Albion started to panic and started telling Vali to stop as Vali started to chant. The faction leaders got ready to fight as the Juggernaut Drive wasn't something someone could easily go up against. Issei, pulled out a senbon needle…

Everyone looked at him like he was crazy. Vali was about to unleash a power so great it could rival gods! And what does Issei do? He pulls out a fucking needle! To everyone's shock however, Issei threw the need at lightning fast speeds and imbedded the senbon needle into Vali's voice box, stopping his chant and his ability to speak.

"Sorry Vali, but I don't feel like fighting the Juggernaut Drive right now. Maybe later." Issei said as he yawned again. Suddenly however, someone teleported behind Vali through a teleportation circle. The person had brown hair and was holding a staff. "Who are you?" Issei asked.

Azazel was the one who answered. "That's Bikou. A descendent of Son Goku." Issei looked at Bikou lazily. "Oh. So, are you here to help Vali? Cause I just want to go to bed." Issei said, while everyone else deadpanned.

Bikou ignored Issei and turned to Vali. "Vali, we're ready to start the attack on the Northern gods." Bikou said, which he only got a nod in reply. Vali walked into a circle to god knows where, followed by Bikou. After that, everyone that was once frozen unfroze and ran to where everyone was.

"Is everything ok? What's going on? And who's that?" Rias asked pointing to Issei. Issei gasped and held a hand to his chest. Faking a hurt voice, he responded to Rias. "What?! You can't even recognize your own pawn?"

Rias' eyes widened to epic proportions. This couldn't be Issei. Issei always wore the Kuoh academy uniform, had a cockroach build, and had _brown_ messy hair! Not black shaggy hair with two bangs framing his face!

"Issei!?" Rias shouted. A big grin appeared on Issei's face. "The one and only." Issei responded. This moment was short lived however as Issei redirected his attention to the leaders of the three factions. "So, what just happened? I thought there was supposed to be a meeting not a fight?"

Rias decided to question him later on his new appearance, and figure out what just happened. Everyone directed their attentions to Serafall, Sirzechs, Michael, and Azazel. They all looked between one another and seemed to have a silent agreement.

Sirzechs is the one that stepped forward and spoke. "The meeting went fine. All three factions agreed to signing a peace treaty before we were ambushed by magicians." Everyone who was not frozen or not present when the ambush happened looked at Sirzechs in shock.

"For real? Why would magicians want to stop an alliance between the three factions? It would benefit them as well!" Rias stated.

Sirzechs sighed. "Well, it appears that the ones who attacked us were rouge magicians that belonged to a new organization called the Khaos Brigade." They were all shocked to hear that news. 'A new terrorist group has appeared? I don't like what this could entail.' Issei thought to himself.

Sirzechs seemed to have the same line of thought and looked at Issei. Sirzechs sighed seeing Issei came to the same conclusion he did. "Rias, there's more. This new group's goal is to overthrow the underworld. This group will effect you more than most, or to be specific, Issei."

Rias seemed confused and worried. "What do you mean? What does Issei have to do with this? He's just a low-ranking devil." Sirzechs sighed, somewhat disappointed in his little sister's ignorance.

"Because Rias, Issei is the Red Dragon Emperor. This group will see him as a threat, in fact they probably already do considering he just fought and humiliated one of their members."

Rias' face went from confusion to dread and worry. Worried for Issei's life. "Don't worry Buchou, I'm sure I'll be fine." He took a pause before his grin returned. "This just means I'll have to train even harder. If this Khaos Brigade thinks they can overthrow the underworld, they got another thing coming!"

Serafall and Sirzechs smiled at Issei's resolve. "Oh yea, Buchou, I've been wondering…" Issei took a pause. "Who's the crossdressing guy over there?" Issei said pointed to Gasper. Everyone deadpanned and some, Azazel and Akeno, let out a few chuckles.

Rias was taken aback for a few seconds before introducing Gasper. "Oh, that's my other bishop. His name is Gasper Vladi." Issei's jaw dropped and he pointed a shaky finger at Gasper.

"You mean to tell me, that the bishop whose sacred gear was so powerful, they had to be sealed away, is a fucking crossdressing guy?! You've got to be kidding me!" Rias smiled and had to hold back her chuckles.

"Yes Issei, that would be him." Gasper himself decided to hide behind Koneko to avoid everyone's stares. "Also, what the hell is up with your new outfit?! And why is your hair black!?" Issei seemed confused for a while until he finally realized what she was talking about.

"Oh, I thought I needed a change of clothes. The black hair though? I have no idea what's up with that, it just started turning black while I was on Mount Everest." Rias' eyes widened. "Mount Everest?! What were you doing on Mount Everest?!"

Issei chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, that's where I trained for the two weeks. On the top of Mount Everest." Everyone there but the leaders of the factions looked at him like he was crazy. The leaders were looking at him amused. "Are you suicidal?! Do you even realize how dangerous that was?! At least tell me you dressed properly so you wouldn't get frostbite!" Rias yelled.

Issei laughed nervously and started to sweat. "Yea! Of course I did!" Issei said, not so convincingly. Rias started glaring at him. "Issei, what did you wear!?" Rias said while power of destruction started flickering on her fingers.

Issei started sweating more. "Uhhh, shorts?" Rias and everyone else stopped and stared at him, mouths agape. Even the leaders looked at him with wide eyes. "Shorts? That's it? Just shorts?" Rias asked. Issei shook his head. "No, I wore underwear too! What do you take me for? A pig?"

Everyone was staring at him, wondering how he was still alive. Rias was the one who voiced her worries however. "HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!" Rias shouted. Issei just now realized why they all were acting like they were.

"Oh, I was channeling fire magic throughout my body the whole time, so I would stay warm. I figured it would only make me stronger if I trained in the hardest conditions possible." Most looked at him like he was insane, however looking at the Mauos one could see the smile present on their faces.

"So, you're getting stronger, huh Issei-kun?" Issei turned his attention to the crimson haired mauo that spoke. "Is there any reason in particular for getting as strong as you can?" Sirzechs asked with genuine curiosity, considering that the rate he was growing in strength was extraordinary.

Issei smiled. "Well, I guess you could say one of the reasons was to protect those I care for. But more than all that…" Issei took a pause and large smile crossed his face, so big of a smile it forced his eyes shut. "I got to fulfill a promise I made."

Serafall gained a small tint of pink as she looked down at the floor with a small smile. "Well, I hope you can fulfill your promise. Just make sure you don't push yourself too hard." Sirzechs said with a smile. There were a few seconds of silence before it was broken by Sirzechs clapping his hands.

"So, with all this said. I believe that thanks are in order. Issei-kun, thank you for helping us with Vali. If there is anything we can do to repay you, please tell." Issei grinned.

"Well, there is one thing you could do for me Sirzechs." Sirzechs lifted his head up and gave Issei his full attention. "And what would that be?"

"Keep your seat warm for me. I'll be taking it soon enough." Issei said with a big grin. Sirzechs as well as all the rest of the people presents eyes went wide at Issei proclamation. "Hohoho, you think your strong enough to do that?" Sirzechs questioned.

Issei chuckled and shook his head. "No, not yet at least. So, do me a favor, and keep it warm. Till then, Ja Ne." Issei said as he turned around and started walking away. As he was walking away, he put his hands behind his head. "Man, I can't wait to sleep in my bed again, it's been so long."

Sirzechs face grew a smile watching Issei's back as he left. 'I know one thing for sure. If there's anyone strong enough to take my position, it's you Issei-kun.' Sirzechs then turned to his wife and Serafall. "Well, I think it's time we go back and report this to Falbium and Ajuka." They both nodded and got their teleportation circles ready.

Serafall sneaked one last glance at the back of Issei before teleporting away with Sirzechs and Grayfia. Soon after, Michael and Azazel left as well, leaving Rias and her peerage as well as Sona and her queen. "It appears that your pawn is getting much stronger, Rias." Sona said in her usual monotone voice.

"Yes, it would appear so." Rias said with a look of longing, looking at the place Issei was recently just walking away at. 'Issei, you've gotten so strong.' Rias thought to herself with a frown. She soon however covered up that frown with a smile and turned to Sona.

"Well, I will see you at school tomorrow, Sona. Have a good night." Rias said before walking to the ORC. She was followed by the rest of her peerage. "You have a good night too, Rias" Sona said before walking to the student council room with Tsubaki in tow.

'I wonder, just how strong will you get, Hyoudou-kun…' was Sona's last thought before going back to her duties as student council president. Which right now, was cleaning up this whole mess created by the Khaos Brigade.


	9. Complete Control

Disclaimer! No matter how hard I wish I do not own High School DxD in any way, shape, or form!

" " – Somebody Talking

' ' – Somebody Thinking

 _" " – Flashback_

 **" " – Ddraig Talking**

 **' ' – Ddraig Thinking**

 **[ ] – Boosted Gear**

* * *

After his fight with Vali, if you can call it that, Issei went straight home. He decided he would see everyone in the ORC tomorrow and answer all the questions they wanted to ask then. Until then, he was going to enjoy a nice long sleep in the comforts of his bed.

The instant he fell on his bed and his face hit the pillow, he was out like a light.

After his almost heavenly sleep, he woke up to the sounds of birds chirping, as some light was seeping through the cracks in his blinds and onto his face. Slowly opening his eyes, to avoid the sunlight blinding him, he looked to his right to find Asia sleeping next to him in a blue nighty.

Asia's cute sleeping face brought a smile to his lips. 'Well, I can't exactly say that I missed having her sleeping by my side while I was training, but at the same time, I can't say I don't enjoy here sleep by my side. Oh well, at least im stronger now, and I can protect her better.'

His smile soon morphed into a serious face as his fist clenched. 'But I must get stronger, even if I'm nearing Ultimate-class right now, in time, even stronger people than that will come. Both to try and kill Rias, as she is one of the mauo's siblings, and to seek a fight with me, because I am the Red Dragon Emperor. No matter what, I will protect them, all of them.'

Deciding not to get too enthralled with his thoughts, he slowly maneuvered himself out of Asia's grip and went to the shower, deciding to get a start on his day. After taking a rather relaxing shower, he came back to his room and put on the Kuoh Academy uniform.

The clothes overall were uncomfortable, and he hated them. Now that he got back from his short training trip, they no longer fit him like they used to, and after spending two weeks on Mount Everest in only shorts and underwear, he grew to like wearing the bear minimum of clothes.

So, to make a compromise, he switched the red t-shirt he would normally wear with a skintight, black long-sleeved undershirt, and then tore the sleeves of the jacket he was required to wear off. At least they couldn't complain about him not wearing it. After that, he decided to leave the jacket unbuttoned.

For the pants, he wore the ones the school provided as he was not aloud to wear anything other than them. Afterword's, he stored several knives in any place they could stay hidden, and sealed the rest of his knives, swords, and daggers in a pocket dimension.

He looked himself over in the mirror and nodded. 'I guess this will work, for now at least.' He then went over to Asia and shook her awake. "Asia-chan, time to wake up. School will start in an hour or so." Asia stirred slightly before slowly opening her eyes.

"Issei-kun?" Asia said groggily as she sat up and tried to wipe the grogginess from her eyes. "Well, yea. Who else would it be?" Issei asked sarcastically. The remark cause Asia to pout and send him a glare, a glare that only made her change from looking like a cute bunny, to an even cuter baby bunny.

Issei chuckled while shaking his head, before grabbing her hands and lifting her out of the bed and sitting her on the floor, holding onto her hands for a few seconds to make sure she didn't fall before regaining her balance.

"Now is not the time to pout, get ready for school, we're going to be leaving in half an hour." Issei then turned and exited the room while whistling a tune.

Forty minutes later, we find Issei, Asia, Xenovia, and Irina approaching the gates of the school. "Why did we come to school so early? School doesn't start for another twenty minutes!" Irina complained as she dragged her feet tiredly on the road.

"Stop complain, there's nothing wrong with coming to school a little earlier than normal. Besides, it's my guess that Buchou and everyone else would like to ask me questions." Irina shut up and sent him a glare.

"Oh yea, I almost forgot. So Issei-kun, how exactly did you become so strong in only two weeks?" Irina asked. Issei sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"All will be answered in due time. For now, you'll just have to wait until we meet with everyone else, I don't feel like explaining it more than once." Issei said with slight annoyance. Irina on the other hand, didn't take the answer so well.

"You're not getting away from this! Tell me, how did you become so strong!?" Irina borderline yelled. Issei's eyes changed, not in shape or color, but rather, they gained a glint they didn't have before. Soon after, he sent a side glare at Irina.

"I said all will be answered in due time, is there something wrong with that?" Issei asked, shocking the three girls with him. This was out of character for Issei, he was usually kind and would never glare at them. They knew he would never hurt them, nor would he ever do anything to indirectly harm them, but this new side of him was unsettling. It was almost like he had randomly grown a new persona.

Irina answered, but in barley a squeak. "N-no! I-I understand. S-Sorry for asking." Irina was trying to do her best to shrink under the glare that Issei was sending her way. Thankfully for her, the glare, and the glint in his eyes disappeared and was replaced with a smile that forced his eyes shut.

"Good. Now, let's get to school." The four girls didn't know what to think, when he gained that glint in his eyes, it was like he grew a different personality. A more dominant and demanding of respect personality. And frankly, it unsettled them. Was this going to become a common occurrence? Why did this all the sudden happen to him? Was it his training trip that did this to him? They didn't know.

As they walked through the gates they gained the attention of all the people who were currently there. It consisted of the people from the kendo club, the student council that were around, and other people involved in clubs.

Most of the girls that noticed the group walk in simultaneously dropped whatever they were carrying, as well as their jaws, and stared at Issei in shock. "Is that the perv?" One of the members of the kendo club asked.

Most people were too shocked to answer, however, a certain pink-haired member of the kendo club found it in her to answer the question. "Yea, but, since when was he ripped?!" Katase responded, blushing madly as she said that, warranting blushes from everyone who heard her.

They all focused their attention to Issei's seemingly brand-new physique and couldn't help but drool a little bit at the sight. The skin-tight long-sleeved shirt he was wearing did nothing to hide what was underneath it. They could see the sculpted 6 pack and the rock-hard pecs clear as day. The way he was crossing his arms let them see his biceps. They weren't overbearingly big nor were they huge, but they defiantly weren't something to scoff at.

Issei himself wasn't even paying attention to all the girls that were checking him out. He could care less to be honest. There was a time where he would give anything in the world, even his left nut, to get the attention he was getting right now. Now however, he didn't hold any interest in popularity nor the female affections. Well, besides Serafall.

The only thing he cared about anymore, was the people that he considered precious. He would protect them and do his dandiest to make all of them happy, no matter the cost. If he had to give up his left arm, so be it. If he had to forfeit his own life, so be it. Whatever it would take, he would do it, and he wouldn't let _anybody_ stop him. Not even the mauos.

All of this started when he watched Irina die. Ever since then, he had a deathly fear of losing someone close to him, but this time forever. He was lucky that Rias was there to revive her and bring her back as a devil. If she wasn't… He didn't even want to think of what would have happened.

This was one of the many drives he used when training. His precious people, the people he loved unconditionally, that was his strength. No matter how strong he became, no matter how many powerful weapons and skills he gained, they would always be were his strength lies. His will to protect them, is what made him strong. And it will only make him stronger as the bonds he has with them grow.

So lost in his thoughts Issei was, that he didn't even notice when they arrived at the ORC. He was pulled out of his thoughts however when Asia gave a tug on his arm. "Are you alright Issei-kun? You've been spacing out for a while." Asia asked with concern written all over her face.

Issei couldn't help but smile warmly at the concern evident on her face and her voice. "I'm fine, just lost in my thoughts is all. It's nothing to worry about." Asia smiled and nodded, and the group continued their trek through the old school building, and into the clubroom.

They opened the doors to the clubroom to find everyone else already there. Akeno was making tea, Koneko was sitting on one of the couches eating a candy bar, Kiba was sitting there with a smile on his face, and Rias was in her usual chair doing paperwork. Gasper, he was hiding inside of a box…

Issei stepped into the room with everybody behind him and raised his arm in a wave. "Yo!" Issei said casually as he entered the room and sat next to Koneko who sent him a side glance before going back to eating her sweets.

Rias looked up from her paperwork and focused her attention on Issei. "Ah, you're here Issei. Now you can answer a few questions for me." Issei nodded in response. It was just like he guessed, they most likely wanted to know what he did no his training trip and just how intense in was.

"First question, what happened to your hair? Why did it change color?" Rias asked, regarding his new black hair. "Oh, that. To be honest, I don't know. It just sort of happened one day. I don't have the slightest clue as to why it changed to black."

Rias reluctantly nodded. "Ok, then next question, what is going on with your new choices in wardrobe?" Issei sighed. "Well, after spending all that time on Mount Everest in only shorts and underwear, I grew a liking to wearing the bare minimum of clothes as possible. However, I also needed a jacket to conceal all my knives and daggers in."

"Ok, then what about all the new weapons you had? Why are you suddenly using swords, knives, and daggers?" Issei sighed once again, this was going to be a very long day.

"The answer is simple. I decided to not rely on my Boosted Gear and cover my weaknesses. So, I learned multiple long rage magical attacks and trained in throwing knives at long distances in case somebody had the ability to negate magic. Learned multiple hand to hand and sword styles of fighting that I can all use fluently and trained my eyes to adjust to high speed attacks. I figured that if I make myself stronger, then I will only get stronger when I decide to use Boosted Gear. For now, Boosted Gear is just a trump card used only in dire situations."

Everyone in the room accepted that answer, however, what he just explained was something that would take a lot longer than just two weeks to accomplish. Rias was the one who voiced everyone's thoughts however. "Issei, how is it that you were able to learn all that in just two weeks? That is something that should have taken months!"

"Well, it's because I trained most of that in my mind with Ddraig. Most of the stuff I learned was dependent on muscle memory. And since it was my mind, I can control the perception of time to some extent with enough practice. When I was in my mind training, a 6-hour long sleep was equivalent to 2 weeks in my mind. So, I actually trained in all of that for a matter of 28 weeks." Everyone was baffled at what they just heard. They didn't even know such a thing was possible.

"Ok, but what about the physical stuff? Are you claiming that you got a physique like that in only 2 weeks?" Issei sighed again. This is one of the things he thought most devils would know, but alas, it seems that it's a rarity for devils to think with their brains.

"That's simple. First off, muscle is built by your muscles being broken down, and then repairing themselves. Each time they repair themselves, the protein strands increase in thickness and number. It's just a matter of how fast your muscles can repair themselves. Naturally as devils, we have a higher healing rate than humans, allowing us to grow muscles quicker. During the training, I had Ddraig turn me into a half-dragon hybrid, giving me an even faster healing factor. Afterword's, I could break down every muscle in my body and have it repair itself in only an hour or two, rather than a day or two like a normal devil."

Everybody in the room was shocked at what they heard. Issei turned into a dragon hybrid? Was that even possible? What side effects did it have? Three people in particular were thinking about the side effects. Those being Irina, Asia, and Xenovia. Was Issei's dragon side the cause for the personality change earlier that day?

"WHAT!? YOU ASKED DDRAIG WHAT?!" Rias screamed, ticked off that Issei would do such a thing without asking her first. After all, turning into a part dragon is a big deal. Taking a few breaths to calm herself down, she proceeded to question him. "Does this transformation have any side effects?" Rias asked in a low, threating tone.

"Yea, it had a few. The most obvious would be a stronger weakness to dragon slayer weapons than before, I also have a stronger love for battle, and I also have gained a new personality you could say. However, it only comes out sometimes. It's more of a dragon personality, meaning it's more dominant and demands respect."

Issei paused putting his finger on his chin, "You know, now that I think about it, I think this might be the reason why my hair turned black. It did turn black the day after I asked Ddraig to turn me into a half dragon."

Rias looked at Issei with a rather pissed off expression. "Issei, you should have asked me about this before you did this first! You have no idea what could have happened." Issei's eyes gained the same glint as before and sent Rias a side glare.

"Whether or not I decide to do something with _my_ life, is my choice, not yours. Even if you are my master, you do not dictate my decision." The people currently present in the room were shocked by Issei's sudden change in persona. Issei had only spoke like this to Rias once before, and that was when he decided to get revenge for Irina's death.

Rias herself was shocked, angered, and saddened by what happened. Shocked that Issei would do such a thing, angered that he thinks she doesn't have a say in his decisions, however at the same time she would never force anything upon Issei if he really didn't want it, and sad that it appeared Issei truly didn't hold any romantic feelings towards. Of course, she already knew that, but she still liked to hold on hope. Even if she already accepted that he was in love with Serafall.

At the very least, it was confirmed that Issei had defiantly gained a new persona as a side effect from being turned half dragon. But the question was, just how bad is this persona? And will it get Issei into trouble?

Rias sighed and decided to move past what just happened and ask another question. "Very well, if that's how you feel, I won't force anything upon you. However, I must ask, what about your human and devil side? Are still even human anymore?"

Issei lost the glint in his eyes and his persona seemed to change back to the Issei they all knew and loved. "Well, yes and no. Currently, I'm about 50% dragon, 30% devil, and 20% human. However, dragons' genes are very dominant, and with time, it will completely overwrite my human DNA. After that, the dragon genes will be so powerful in my body, it will do the same with my devil DNA until the point where I only have enough devil genes to contain my evil pieces, which is about 10%. So, in time, I will be 90% dragon, 10% devil. How long that will take however, I don't have the slightest clue."

For the people present, that was a shock to them. Figuring out that he was now half dragon was enough to shock them, finding out that eventually, he will basically become a full-blooded dragon, shocked them even greater. "Will there be any side effects that you get as your dragon genes take over your human and devil genes?" Rias asked with concern evident in her voice.

"Well, naturally, the more dragon I become, the more vulnerable I'll be to dragon slayer weapons. If I had to guess, my dragon personality will appear more often, instead of appearing only at times, it may fully merge with my current personality, and finally, the more dragon I become, the higher of a healing factor I will have. Of course, there is a lot more affect, like a naturally higher fire affinity and stronger physical capabilities. But, to name all of them would take too much time." Everyone there was about what might happen when Issei and his dragon personality merge, but they figured they still have a lot of time before that happens.

Issei then stood up and started walking to the door. "Well, I would stay to answer more questions, but classes start in five minutes. See you all after class, Ja Ne." On his way to class, he got the same stares from everyone that he did when he entered the school gates.

In fact, he had already heard rumors being spread about how the 'perverted beast' had been replaced and had forgone his perverseness. And as much as that was true for the most part, it wasn't at the same time. He was still a pervert, but just less open about now, much like most people.

When he entered the classroom and walked to his desk, he was greeted by Matsuda trying to give him a punch. Instead of that happening however, Issei sidestepped the punch, tripped Matsuda, and watched as he fell on top of the person who was trying to attack him from behind, Motohama.

As they fell to the ground, both their punches went from being targeted at Issei, to at eachother, and punched one another as they fell, simultaneously knocking each other out. The whole class erupted in cheers and shouts of joy and Issei chuckled a little before continuing on to his seat.

As everyone rejoice in the fact that the two perverts knocked each other out, Aika Kiryuu approached Issei. "Word around school is that you have forgone perversity. Is it true?" Aika said, loud enough for the whole class to hear. They all stopped cheering and focused their attention on Issei.

Issei looked up at Aika with a bored expression. "I guess you could say that. I would be lying if I said I still didn't contain some perverseness. After all, I am a guy, so naturally I have a liking of the female body. But I no longer have any interest in peeking on girls, nor preaching about breast. To be honest, I don't even know why I started doing that in the first place."

Looking around the room, you could see the approving faces of the female population. Although he did admit he still had some perverseness, they knew that all guys had it. If you didn't, then you either didn't feel any emotions, or you didn't have an attraction to the female populace.

Two people however sent Issei a suspicious glare. "Hmmpf. We'll just see about that now, won't we?" A pink-haired induvial said, loud enough for the entire class to hear. They all agreed with her and decided to keep and eye on him and see if he had really forgone his perverseness, for the most part at least.

Issei himself didn't care. He just refocused his attention to the window and watched as the clouds moved by. 'This is so boring. Hopefully something interesting happens soon, if not, I'll just take another training trip. I can still feel that I'm no where close to where I want to be. Where I need to be. Not only that, I lack experience. I need much more experience.'

Issei was so lost in his thoughts he didn't even notice that his class had started. For the rest of the school day, he sat and stared out the window, thinking over what he needed to do to become stronger. To gain the respect of the mauos.

* * *

Issei was now sitting in the ORC waiting for everyone else to arrive. Rias said that she had something to tell everyone once they got there. So he sat and waited patiently for everyone to arrive.

A few minutes later, the last of the ORC arrived. "Ok, now that everyone is here, it's time I tell you all what we will be doing for the new few months." Rias said with a smile. Everyone focused their attention on her and listened.

"A few months from now, there will be a meeting called the young devils gathering. The new generation of high-class devils are going to get together and there will be a gathering. While there, the mauos and the other leaders of the three factions will be discussing the Khaos Brigade. We will be leaving tomorrow to go to the Underworld, and for 2 months we will all be training."

Issei sat at full attention at the mention of training. '2 months of training? If I follow a regimen similar to the one before, I will get a total of 122 weeks of training in my mind with Ddraig and can use the rest of the time strengthening my body as well as my magic reserves.' A grin soon found its way onto his face.

"Okay, sounds good to me." Issei said, still grinning. "Well, if that's all you needed to say, I'll be taking my leave, Ja Ne." Issei got up off the seat and left the ORC. However, instead of going home he made his way to the student council office.

As he approached he knocked a few times, and in return he got a, "come in" from the inside. He opened the door to find everyone in the student council there doing paperwork and playing chess.

"Yo!" Issei raised his hand in greeting. Sona looked up from her paperwork and struggled to keep down her blush at what she saw. There Issei stood, not that that was abnormal, what was abnormal was his choice in clothing. The fact she could see the outline of every muscle on in his body made her force down a blush.

The other members other club however, weren't as lucky. They all had blushes and were transfixed with Issei's body, even Tsubaki, even if her blush was only a light dusting. This all made for one very jealous Saji Genshirou.

"Hyoudou-kun, I wasn't expecting to see you today, is there anything you need?" Issei nodded and walked to the front of her desk. "Actually, yes. Although my training is going well and I'm becoming much stronger, I still lack the information on most mythologies. So, I came here to ask you if you knew of anywhere I could go to get that information."

Sona and the other council members were shocked. Issei Hyoudou _voluntarily_ learning something new? It sounded more like a pipe dream to the student council than reality. However, only Sona knew the reason why he wanted to attain that information, and who was she to deny access to someone learning?

"May I ask why the sudden interest in mythologies?" Sona asked quirking an eyebrow. She of course, knew the reason, but decided to toy with him a bit. However, what she wasn't expecting was for him to show a side of him she had never seen before.

The glint returned in Issei's eyes and he sent a glare at Sona. "You know why. Now is there a place where I can attain the information or not, Kaichou." Everybody in the room, especially Sona, was taken aback by Issei's sudden change. And for some odd reason, Sona felt herself complying to the aura that basically demanded she listen to him.

"Y-Yes. There is a place. I can send you the address of a place here in Kuoh with a library full of the information you want." Sona was cursing herself for stuttering. Of all the people to make her stutter, it was a low-class devil of all people. Although she would never admit it, that greatly wounded her pride as a high-class devil.

To be fair however, this is the same low-class devil that single handedly tossed around one of the Khaos Brigade's front liners. With ease too.

Saji however, being the idiot he was, didn't get the memo and decided to be an idiot. "Hey, you can't talk to Kaichou like that!" He said while trying to walk up to him and grab his shoulder. Everyone in the room instantly knew what was about to happen and could only sit back and watch as Saji made a fool of himself.

Just as Saji thought he was about to humiliate Issei and score some points with his Kaichou, his hand was grabbed and twisted back. Everyone in the room could hear a 'pop', followed by a scream of pain.

Issei was currently still facing Sona during all of this. However, he currently had his hand on Saji's now dislocated wrist and didn't even acknowledge that he just dislocated Saji's wrist. "I would appreciate it if you could send me the address to that library by the end of the day. Buchou and the rest of us are leaving to go to the Underworld tomorrow to prepare for the young devil gathering."

He then turned his face to Saji, who was currently writhing on the ground. "Did you know, that there is an air pocket right about here," Issei moved his thumb to the edge of Saji's wrist, "that if popped, it will stop the heart and kill the person in a matter of seconds?" Saji turned pale while the rest of the room went on guard.

It was all for naught however, as Issei released Saji's wrist and started walking out the room. "You should be careful next time Saji-san." With the threat still lingering in the air, Issei walked out of the room, while the glint also left his eyes, returning to the normal Issei.

"W-When did Issei-senpai get so scary?" Ruroko Nimura said with fear evident in his voice.

"We will have to ask Rias about this development." Sona said with seriousness.

Saji was still writhing on the floor in pain, though no one seemed to pay any attention to him. Not even the people that were supposed to have crushes on him. Though some had to admit, Issei's dominant personality, and the aura that demanded respect, turned them on.

* * *

An hour later, we find Issei outside of a run-down building. The place looked abandoned and looked as if it would collapse on itself at any moment. Issei however, knew it was just an illusion put there to keep away the people with no knowledge of the supernatural world.

He was currently outside of the library that Sona was telling him about. Issei dispelled the illusion, and soon the abandoned building was replaced by a two story building with the letters Kuoh Supernatural Library on it.

"Well, I guess this is the place." Issei stepped up to the glass double doors and opened them. Inside, he could see thousands of books, all in different quadrants of the library. In each quadrant, there was a marker, classifying what the books were about.

"Welcome to Kuoh Supernatural Library, how may I help you?" Issei looked over to find what looked like a dog person. It was a female with long brown hair reaching the middle of her back, an average body and figure, but what made her look like a dog person was the floppy dog ears and dog tail on her body.

'Defiantly a youkai.' Issei remarked to himself. He walked up to the woman and gave her a smile. "Yes, I would like to apply for a membership. There are quite a few things I would like to learn about." The librarian nodded and gave him a clipboard with a stack of papers on it and a pen.

"Fill this out and you will be all set. Then, you can check any book or books out that you want." She said with a smile. Issei nodded and walked over to one of the chairs in the library. He sat down and looked over the paper.

'Name, last name, race, master (if have any), I see. Considering that Kuoh is owned by the devils, they probably use this place as a means to gather information on people. Well, I have nothing to hide, and luckily, they don't ask about Sacred Gears. I don't want everyone in the Underworld to know about my status just yet. It will bring to many enemies to me.'

Issei spent the next ten minutes filling out all the paperwork to get a membership in the library. After that time, he turned it in to the youkai working the desk. "Alright, everything looks good, feel free to check out as many books as you want." Issei smiled and gave the woman a grateful nod.

After that, he went to the quadrant of the library marked devils. 'Well, I won't be able to come back here and check out books for another two months. So, it's probably best if I check out quite a few books. First, I'll learn everything I can about devils, I'm guessing that I'll be recommended for the mid-class exams soon, and I need to pass those.' Issei thought off handedly.

So, with that in mind, Issei proceeded to grab all the books that may be involved with the mid-class exams. "Ok, that should do it." Issei was currently pushing around a cart with 120 books on it. It might seem overkill to most, but he wouldn't be able to come back for another 2 months, and in that time, he planned on reading while in his mind. All he would have to do, is bring the books that he wanted to read in with him, and he would be able to read them.

So, in all honesty, he would be reading these books for 122 weeks, which converts to over two years. So, he planned on reading at least one book a week. Which won't be too hard. So with everything he needed, he walked up to the librarian and checked out his books.

She was shocked to find out he was checking out 120 books but said that it wouldn't be the first time someone checked out a high number of books like this. She then told him that he had 6 months to return all of the books. If he didn't he would have to pay for all of them. Which let's just say, is a lot of money.

He put all the books into his pocket dimension that Ddraig taught him how to use during his first training trip and continued on for the day. The next two months were going to be _very_ fun, and _very_ worthwhile.

The next day, we find Issei and everyone from the ORC riding a train to the underworld. The train itself looked like it was just driving through space. "So, this is how someone gets to the underworld? Sounds tedious if you ask me. We could have just used a teleportation circle." Issei asked, annoyance clearly evident in his voice. He was hoping to be training by now, but instead he had to ride a train to the underworld. A train of all things. He would have preferred the griffin he rode last time over this junk piece of metal.

"Normally, yes, we would go by transportation circle. But the problem is, Xenovia isn't a devil, and so she would not be able to teleport with us." Issei sighed, this was the only way they could get her there. Or not, they could have given her the same transportation paper that Grayfia gave him to get to the Underworld.

He decided to just drop the subject and continue on with the train ride. He decided to pull out one of the books he checked out and start reading it.

For the rest of the train ride, everything was normal and fine, Sona came and thanked Rias for allowing her to use the Gremory train, and Rias left to go somewhere with Azazel. Suddenly however, the whole train came to a stop.

As everybody else sat there in curiosity, Issei continued to read his book, and he would have kept reading it, however, everybody was suddenly ejected out of the train and into an unknown area.

The area was surrounded by rocks and mountains, and the sky was purple with two moons. 'Well, looks like were in the underworld. But where? And why were we ejected out? This must be part of the training.'

Everyone turned around when they all suddenly heard a deafening roar. There behind them, stood a dragon, at least 15 meters tall, its chest was a white/grey color, his arms and legs were a maroon red, 2 golden horns coming out of his head, and purple eyes. On his back, were 2 large bat-like wings.

Issei smirked seeing the dragon before them. Everybody there started attacking the dragon one after another, while Issei sat back and watched.

After five minutes of him doing nothing, the rest of the peerage got pretty pissed off. "Issei-kun! Don't just stand there?! Why aren't you fighting?!" Akeno yelled. Issei looked over to her with a bored expression.

"Because there's no point. You all are fighting a former dragon king. You could shoot attacks all day long, you would still never even scratch his scales. Besides, he's not even our enemy. That's Tannin, and he is a former dragon king who agreed to be reincarnated into a devil under the tutelage of Mephisto Pheles."

Issei had already read all about Tannin. In fact, it was the first thing he read. When he went to bed night he got all those books, the 2 books he decided to bring with him both involved Tannin in them. The first book was about the rating games and had detailed descriptions about most of the Ultimate-class devils. The next book was about Mephisto Pheles. In the book it told him why Tannin agreed to become a devil. One reason was so he could participate in rating games, and the second was for the Dragon Apples that only grew in the underworld.

Everyone currently fighting Tannin stopped at that, even Tannin himself. "What do you mean we wouldn't be able to hurt him? We seemed to be doing good." Irina said. Issei and Tannin chuckled, gaining annoyed looks from the rest of the people there.

"Guys, Tannin is an Ultimate-class devil. One of the _strongest_ , Ultimate-class devils. Not only that, he's a former dragon king. What I'm getting at, is that he was holding back. If he wanted to, he could have killed everyone here before we even knew what was happening. The only way we would be able to do damage, is if I went into my balance breaker."

Everyone's face went pale, and they turned around to look at Tannin with looks of utter fear. They refocused their attention however, when they heard clapping on one of the mountains nearby Tannin. "Nice work Tannin, that will be all." The familiar voice of Azazel spoke.

Everyone looked to see Azazel and Rias standing there by Tannin. "Rias?!" Most of the members shouted. "Heh, sorry guys." Rias said with an apologetic look. "We wanted to test what you guys could do. We would have continued it, if Issei hadn't told you it was all just a jig." Rias and Azazel sent Issei an annoyed glare.

Issei laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Yea, sorry about that." Rias sighed and waved it off. "Don't worry Issei, it's fine." Everyone in the club then went on a rampage, all angered at Issei for not telling them sooner.

"Issei-kun! How long did you know it was all just a jig?!" Irina shouted. Issei tapped his chin for a few seconds, as if debating something. "Since before it even happened. I found it weird we were taking the train to the Underworld, and the excuse of Xenovia not being able to teleport just didn't make sense. They could have given her a teleportation paper to teleport her here. So, you could say I knew something was up since we were still on the train."

Azazel started laughing. "Who would have thought that Issei, the booby loving dragon, would become so perceptive. Looks like you chose correctly in reincarnating him, Gremory." Rias smiled at the compliment.

"Yea yea, now can we start the training?" Issei asked, obviously annoyed. Rias' smile fell, and she started pouting while mumbling strings of curses about dragons being too obsessed with training. Tannin smirked and walked over to Issei. "You want to start you training? Ok, then let's go!" Tannin said as he started to take off into the air.

Issei smirked seeing the one who would train him was going to be. 'Finally, if I train with a dragon not sealed in a sacred gear, I can finally master dragon fire. This is going to be fun.' Issei then let his Boosted Gear wings out and flew off towards Tannin.

"It's to my understanding that you have already unlocked Ddraig's balance breaker, correct?" Tannin asked Issei once he caught up. "Yea, I was hoping we could train me in mastering dragon fire. That's the only thing I really need to learn that I can't do by myself." Tannin nodded in agreement.

"Very well, I will help you in learning how to use dragon fire. You however, will be the one who decides what your fire will be." Issei raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean I get to choose my fire?"

Tannin sighed. "It is something that all dragons have the choice of. However, not all dragons can master the fire they choose. Ddraig chose the flames of purgatory, a crimson red flame that burns everything in its path. Tiamat chose the flames of chaos. A blue flame that burns colder than ice. And I chose the flames of the dragon king. It allows me a much higher control over my fire, however they don't have the destructive power that Ddraig's and Tiamat's do."

Issei nodded in understanding. "So, the fire we choose is up to our imagination and whatever fits us best?" Tannin nodded. "Okay, I understand now."

"Do you have any flame in mind? As the host to Ddraig, you will naturally have a good affinity with the flames of purgatory." Tannin suggested. Issei shook his head. "I already have flames in mind. I want to have complete control over my flames. I don't need destructive flames like Ddraig or Tiamat. If I need flames that can do a lot of damage, I can use the Boosted Gear to make the flames I have much stronger, and still have complete control."

Tannin nodded. There would always be benefits to having more control over your fire than others. Dragons like Ddraig and Tiamat's flames, although they were powerful, they didn't have any control over them. They could only shoot them at someone in a line or a fire ball. They couldn't do things like control the flames after they have been fired.

"Do you have any idea what you will call them?" Tannin asked. Issei nodded. "I think I will call them the flames of regulation." Tanning nodded and landed on the ground, the area around them was just rock. Everywhere the eyes could see, was only rock. The surrounding area wasn't flat, but it didn't have any tall mountains or boulders around either.

Issei smirked, this was the perfect place for training his fire. "So, how do I start training in using my flames?"

"Has Ddraig already taught you everything he could in using regular flames?" Tannin asked, he need confirmation for this. Issei nodded. "Ok, then all you need to do, is simply imagine your flame. Just like devil magic, dragon magic is also solely dependent on imagination. Imagine the color of the flame, how hot it is, or in your case, imagine being in tune with it. As if you were one with your flame. That would give you complete control over your flames."

Issei nodded. He closed his eyes and started to imagine the flames he wanted to use. He imagines all the qualities he wanted his flames to have. The complete control over the flames, him being one with his flames. Soon enough, he could feel magic start to build up in his hand, then, in a burst, white flames ignited on his hands.

Issei opened his eyes and smirked. He lifted his hand up so he could see them perfectly ignited on his hands, but at the same time, he couldn't feel the heat from the flames. His smirk grew even wider. He then had the flame dance circles around his arm, and then his body, doing everything he could think of to test the control he had over his flames.

Then he had the flame go up 20 meters in the air. Focusing, he had the flames stop absorbing the oxygen in the air, and instead let it build up around it. After 10 seconds or so, he had the flame absorb all the oxygen in the air around it and watched as the flame turned to half the size of Tannin.

Tannin himself was admiring the control over the flames that Issei was using. And he knew, that Issei's control would only get better the more he used his flames. Suddenly however, Issei sent the flames at Tannin at a rapid pace. Tannin was shocked and didn't react in time and was engulfed by the flames.

However, what shocked tannin was that the flames weren't doing anything to him. The flames themselves felt more like a warm blanket to him than anything else. "You feel it, right? The warm feeling the flames give off? That's the control I have over the flames. Like I said, I wanted complete control, which means that those flames are by extension, my own will."

Tannin looked at him confused. "It means, that the flames will only affect or hurt those that I see as my enemies. So instead of hurting you, they give off more of a calming feeling. I'm hoping, that with enough training, the flames will one day have a healing property. So instead of an offensive or defensive flame, I chose to go with flames that support more than anything else. Of course, they can still burn those I consider my enemies, but the power of the flames has just about the same power as regular fire."

Tannin was shocked. This was the first time he ever heard of anyone using their flames like this. Most people would either have their flames have the most destructive power as possible or have a balance between control and power like him. He never heard of anyone using their flames to heal people.

"Hmmm, interesting. But please, do tell, what made you want to pick flames that have little to no power at all? Not to say that they are weak, but compared to dragon fire, this is child's play." Issei smirked, he was hoping he would ask that.

"Well, it all has to do with the Boosted Gear. You could say that I have the ability to cheat the system when it comes to dragon fire. The Boosted Gear can boost _anything_ and boost _all_ properties of what I choose to boost. So, if I were to boost my flames, the destructive powers _and_ the healing properties of the flames would boost. So, if I was to boost say, 10 times, my flames would be 10 times more powerful than they are right now."

Tannin was shocked once again. It all made sense now. Issei could boost his flames as many times as he wanted, and still have complete control over them. Hell, the flames healing capabilities could possibly surpass even the Phenex houses if he boosts it enough. And at the same time, they would be powerful enough to rival even his own.

Theoretically, with Issei's control over his flames, he could apply a layer of the flames on himself, and the flames would act as armor, but only if he boosted it enough times. Then the flames would simultaneously heal him while he fought. So whereas most people who use these flames would only be able to use them as support, Issei could use them as an offensive, defensive, and supportive flame.

Tannin smirked, this kid's intellect was high. He could tell that this kid was going to go places in the devil world, that much was for sure. The kid showed the same kind of intellect that Ajuka did when he was just a teen. Of course, it is no where near as high as Ajuka's, but it is still higher than the average devil.

"Alright kid, I see now, if that's how you want to use your flames, then so be it. Now, let's start this training. During this training, you are to see me as your enemy, meaning I want these flames to start burning me if I get touched by them." Tannin said. Issei smirked and gained the glint in his eyes.

"If that's how you want it, then fine." He said with a smirk before Tannin and Issei began a long training session. (I'm not going to write the training session because I want the abilities he can do with his fire to be a surprise for you all.)


	10. The Gathering

**I'm not going to do author notes very often, but I have seen a lot of you guys getting pissed of because I changed Issei's hair to black. Some say I basically made him an OC, and some say that his hair should be the same. However, I assure you guys, I changed his hair for a reason. And it will not stay black, it will go back to his old hair, but for the moment, that black hair signifies something. I'm sure if you guys think about it, and try and figure out why it's black right now, then you probably won't mind that I changed it for the time being. So again, I assure you, I am not making him into an OC, and I am not changing his hair forever. The black hair just signifies something that will happen later in the story.**

Disclaimer! No matter how hard I wish I do not own High School DxD in any way, shape, or form!

" " – Somebody Talking

' ' – Somebody Thinking

" " – _Flashback_

" " – **Ddraig Talking**

' ' – **Ddraig Thinking**

 **[ ] – Boosted Gear**

* * *

Issei was sitting on a cliff, watching the purple sky that never changed. There was no day or night here in the Underworld, it was always just a purple sky with two moons. Sometimes he liked how it always stayed the same, sometimes he missed being able to watch as the sun rose and fell over the horizon.

For two months, Issei has woken up, and went to sleep to the same exact sky. In his own opinion, it felt weird. In fact, the purple color of the sky made it seem like it was always night. But, it made sense. After all, the underworld was home to the devils and fallen angels. Beings that strive in dark places.

Him though? Well, he was part devil, so he didn't mind it too much. But he was more dragon than anything else. If he had to guess, his dragon side had already overwritten about a quarter of his human DNA.

For the first two weeks of his training, he trained with Tannin in mastering his dragon fire. Although he didn't completely master it, as that would take years, but he got a good enough grasp on it to train it on his own. So, for the other six weeks, he trained on his own. For the most part, it was practicing his fighting styles, reading books, sparring with Ddraig, and practicing his accuracy with his knives while inside his mind. When he was outside his mind, his training would consist of him pushing his body to the limits. He trying to strengthen his body, but rather increase his stamina. So, he would run while wearing weight magic.

Weight magic was a magic Ddraig taught him in which the more magic he put into the spell, the heavier the weight of the magic would be. The spell could be cast to anywhere on his body, but Issei only cast it on his chest, arms, and legs. There wasn't really a point to put it everywhere on his body.

When he wasn't training his physical stamina, he would be training his magic reserves. Even though he trained in them when he was on Mount Everest, his magic reserves were still pathetic. He could barley even use a teleportation circle, and that's why he still took the train or walked everywhere.

And finally, he decided to take on a new specialty. Some of the books he got from the library had a rather, interesting, weapon he could add to his arsenal. And that weapon was poison. He read all the books he could on the poisons and how to make them, and then we would apply the poison to his senbon needles. This way, he would have multiple options on what to do when facing an enemy.

If he needed to capture his enemy, he had paralysis poison needles, and also narcotic poison needles. If he needs to slowly poison someone, he had multiple poisons for that as well. If he needed to kill someone, he had poisons that would kill someone as well. And all this took was being hit one time by his senbon needle.

So, Issei being the crafty person he was, decided to see what would happen if he used his boosted gear on the needles. And just as he guessed, the Boosted Gear boosted _all_ attributes. For one, it boosted the penetration of the needle, it also boosted the speed of the needle, and finally, and possibly the most dangerous one, it boosted the effects of the poison on the needle.

The ability to boost the poison was one of the things he found very, what's the word for it? Very, overpowered. But then again, the Boosted Gear was known to be overpowered in general. He could boost the poison as many times as he wanted. Hell, he could take an everyday poison like rat poison, which had barley any effect on a devil at all and boost it to the point where it would kill a mauo.

However, Issei still stood by his decision to only use the Boosted Gear in dire times. So, he would only boost the poison if the situation really called for. The only reason he boosted them in the first place, was to see what would happen.

At Issei's current level of strength, he knew he was at least low Ultimate-class, and with the Boosted Gear, he could possibly be on the level of a major God. And he knew for a fact, that the possibility of gaining strength this fast was all thanks to the Boosted Gear.

After all, without it, he wouldn't be able to train the way he did. He wouldn't be able to push his body to the point where he passed out and be perfectly fine a few hours later. The possibility of doing that was all thanks to his dragon genes, and the only reason he was part dragon was because of the Boosted Gear.

'I'm strong enough to gain the respect of the mauos, the only problem is the opportunity to showcase my strength. Buchou isn't old enough to participate in rating games yet, so I can't show it there. Not to mention, I'm still a low-class devil. It would look bad for a mauo to be with a low-class devil, if I want to the opportunity, I'll need to be officially considered Ultimate-class. This is going to be tough, I don't know how I'm going to get to Ultimate-class when I don't have the opportunity to show my strength. My best bet would be if I ran into the Khaos Brigade and took out some of their strongest members.'

Issei looked up into the moon and clenched his fist. Issei looked basically the same as when he left, the only really noticeable difference was the brown strands of hair mixed in with his black hair. Similar to on Mount Everest he was only wearing shorts and underwear again. After all, the underworld would get hot at times.

"Today was the last day of training. Tannin should be here in a few minutes to take me to the Gremory mansion." Issei stopped talking and looked behind him at one of the rocks. "Are you going to come out or are you going to just sit there and watch me?"

A few seconds later, a man walked out from behind the rock. The man was tall, at least 6'3, and had black hair with purple eyes. The man was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with a grey vest over top and black pants. "I'm surprised you perceived me. The names Sairaorg. Sairaorg Bael." The man extended his hand for a handshake.

Issei accepted the handshake and had to stop himself from laughing when he tried to intimidate him by crushing his hand. "Issei, Hyoudou Issei. So, you're from the house of Bael? Odd, I can't sense much magic coming from you." Issei tilted his head and question marks formed above his head.

Sairaorg frowned and let go of Issei's hand. "That's because I didn't inherit the Power of Destruction when I was born." Sairaorg said with a sad frown. Issei nodded in understanding.

"So, what, you don't have the Power of Destruction. Don't get too downtrodden because of that, just become strong regardless and show your family you don't need strong magic to be strong." Sairaorg's frown soon turned into a smile and he laughed a genuine laugh.

"You know Issei Hyoudou, I like you. I thought the same exact thing when I was younger. And that's exactly what I did. A few years ago, I became heir to the Bael clan because of the strength I showed." He said with a smile. Issei nodded before patting Sairaorg on the back, which resulted in him almost falling on his face.

"That's good. I know how you feel though, I'm not very good with magic either." Sairaorg was staring at Issei with wide eyes. 'What strength. Just how strong are you, Issei Hyoudou?' Sairaorg thought to himself.

"Haha, yea. Anyways, it was nice to meet you Issei Hyoudou. Hopefully one day we can have a spar, but for now, I must take my leave." Sairaorg said before leaving. A few minutes later, Tannin led Issei to the Gremory mansion.

* * *

When he arrived, Grayfia took him to the room he would be staying at while they were there in the underworld. The room itself was the size of Issei's whole first floor in the human realm. Hell, the bed itself was as big as Issei's whole room.

When he entered the room, he couldn't help but whistle at the size. "You know, I'll never understand why devils make such big rooms. After all, it's not like one person needs a room the size of a house." Issei then walked over to the bed and started taking his clothes out of his pocket dimension.

As he got dressed, he talked to Grayfia. "So, what time is dinner? And where do I need to go?" He said as he put on his skin-tight long-sleeve black shirt. Followed by putting on his red jack without any sleeves and hood and zipped it up.

"Dinner will be in two hours, and one of the maids will come to lead you to the dining room once it is time." Issei then continued to strap on all 4 of his swords on his back, followed by another on his lower back with two daggers.

"If I may ask, what is all the weapons for? It's not like you will be needing them." Grayfia asked in her usual stoic tone. Honestly, that ever so stoic tone creeped Issei out a little bit. Did it hurt to show even just a little bit of emotion?

"You never know what will happen. Best to always be prepared, besides it takes forever to strap on all my weapons." Issei then continued to take out hundreds of knives and senbon and conceal them in his jacket.

"That may be so, but I can assure you that the Gremory mansion is on of the safest places in the underworld." Issei chuckled, which resulted in a confused Grayfia.

"That's what you may think, but this place is too lax. When we were walking to this room, I found 17 holes in the defense of the castle. Here, just to prove it," Issei then suddenly disappeared from Grayfia's vision. She looked quickly looked around the room but couldn't find him, until he suddenly appeared behind her with a dagger at her throat.

"See, even you are too lax. You've only met me two times, and yet you automatically assume that I would never do anything to the Gremory family, or that if I did try, I would be too weak to do anything." Grayfia was sitting there with wide eyes and a few beads of sweat dripping down her forehead.

Alas, Issei removed the dagger and put it back into its place. "Sorry about that, just needed to prove a point. You need to be more on guard around people, even if they are only low-class devils. You never know what people are capable of. You underestimate people too often, that is something you should never do. You should always assume that the person in front of you is just as strong, if not stronger than you."

Issei walked over to the bed with Grayfia still frozen in the same place she was standing. 'How did he do that? He's supposed to be a low-class devil, and yet he was fast enough to disappear from my line of vision! How strong is he really?'

Issei himself was having different thoughts. 'It's a good thing I removed all my weight magic. If I hadn't, I doubt I would have been able to get behind her like that. But, at the least, she'll tell Sirzechs about this incident, and I know for a fact he will then tell all the mauos. This will get them all to keep an eye on me.' Issei thought with a grin.

"How did you do that?! No low-class devil should have that kind of speed!" Grayfia said on guard. This is one of the reactions Issei expected from her. "There's no need to worry Grayfia-san, I'm not your enemy, I was simply pointing out one of your weaknesses." Grayfia's eyes narrowed.

"You didn't answer my question." Grayfia said in a low voice. It was obvious to Issei if he didn't answer, he would probably have a fight on his hands. "Just because I am low-class devil, doesn't mean I have the same strength as one. I simply haven't had the chance to go up in the ranks yet."

Grayfia narrowed her eyes further. "But you didn't show this kind of speed at the three-faction meeting nor at your fight with Riser. How did you become this strong, this fast? Or have you always been this strong and were hiding it?" Issei had to hold in a chuckle. It appears he made Grayfia too wary of him. Now she thinks he is a spy.

"You know that I couldn't have always been this strong. If I was, Buchou wouldn't have been able to reincarnate me. The answer to your question is simple. I trained." Grayfia got out of her fighting stance but stayed on guard.

"Dinner will be in an hour, I will come to pick you up then." Grayfia said with her eyes still narrowed before she walked away. 'She's probably going to go tell Sirzechs about this know. He's smart, so he will probably see my true motive behind that. If Sirzechs doesn't, Ajuka defiantly will.'

An hour later, just as she said, Grayfia came by and picked Issei up. As they were walking down the hallway, Grayfia gave him a side glance and smirked. "That was smart what you back did there. I didn't see why you did it until Sirzechs-sama told me. You did that just, so he would tell the other mauos and they would keep a close eye on you."

Issei smirked and chuckled while raising his hands. "You got me there. This way, the mauos will keep a closer eye on me, considering I was able to best you, one of the strongest devils in the underworld. Now it will be easier to get a recommendation for the mid-class and high-class devil exam."

Grayfia scowled at him. "You did not best me!" Issei chuckled. He must have hurt her pride. "Yea yea, sure I didn't." Issei and Grayfia soon arrived at the kitchen and most were surprised to see that Grayfia was scowling at Issei while simultaneously pouting. The same Grayfia that was known to never show any emotion.

The moment was short lived, however, as Grayfia put up her usual cold front. Issei went to one of the open chairs and sat down. "So, Issei, how did your training go?" Rias asked. Everyone at the table turned to him.

"It went well." Everyone faces faulted at the blunt answer. "That's good, but did you become any stronger?" Issei's face never changed, it showed the same blank emotion as before. "Yes."

Rias was starting to get agitated with Issei's answers and it showed as some Power of Destruction started to spark off her. "How much stronger?" She said while gritting her teeth.

Issei shrugged. "I don't know, low Ultimate-class? Probably Satan-class if I used my Boosted Gear." Everyone that heard him stopped walking, and the people sitting dropped the eating utensils and the drinks they were holding and just stared at him.

"Your joking, right?" Irina said. Issei tilted his head to the side. "No, why would I lie about that?"

"There's no way you got that strong!" Irina was the one who said everyone's thoughts once again.

"If you don't believe me, then ask Grayfia-san. Even if she won't admit the I bested her, I'm sure she will agree that I am Ultimate-class." Everyone's eyes went even wider. "You did not best me!" Everyone turned to see that Grayfia was the one that yelled, her face red with rage, or maybe embarrassment. Probably both.

"Then what would you call it? I had a dagger against your neck. One twitch, and you would have died." Issei said plainly. Grayfia was a stuttering mess, not knowing how to answer. The maids of the Gremory mansion didn't know what was more surprising. That this low-class devil was able to best Grayfia, or that Grayfia was turned into a stuttering mess by the kid.

Soon enough, Grayfia released a yell of frustration before stomping out of the kitchen, grumbling about stupid cheating dragons.

Everyone from the Gremory house was staring were Grayfia was in utter shock. In fact, I think Rias' father had a minor heart attack seeing the always stoic Grayfia turned into a stuttering mess. They all had already forgotten about the fact that Grayfia had basically confirmed that Issei Ultimate-class and focused on the fact he somehow turned her into a stuttering mess.

Hell, she didn't even show this much emotion when she was giving birth! Soon enough, all their attention was brought back to Issei as he broke out laughing. Soon enough, his laughter was broken however when Grayfia came back to the room and tried to pummel him into the ground.

Issei's eyes widened when he saw that Grayfia had leaped across the room and was flying straight toward him. Issei quickly hopped out of his chair and had to bend his face back in order to dodge a punch from Grayfia.

Grayfia herself was seeing red ever since she heard Issei start laughing at her. She decided to get her payback for embarrassing her. As she sent another punch at Issei he stepped to the right to dodge it, and that's when he noticed her hands we covered in ice.

'Is she trying to kill me?!' Issei though in shock. She continued to throw punches at him and Issei would barely dodge them. Everyone in the room was in awe watching the two go at it. Finally, however, Grayfia landed a hit on Issei's right leg, and everyone watched as it started to freeze over.

Grayfia smirked but soon was turned to shock when she watched the white flames appear where she froze his leg and remove the ice. "Why so serious Grayfia-san? I guess I'm not allowed to hold back either I guess." Issei said as he removed the weight magic that was on his body.

He then shot forward, while Grayfia quickly went on the defensive. She was barely keeping up with Issei's fast speed. To everyone in the room but Rias' father, they were just a blur. Each time their fists connected, it would send a small shockwave throughout the mansion. Zeoticus knew he needed to stop this fight, but he didn't know how.

However, his prayers were answered when a red blur shot into the room and went in between the two. However, when the person that came in and stopped the fight was seen by everyone, everyone had to hold in a gasp. There Sirzechs was, in between Grayfia and Issei, however, he also had Issei's fist implanted into the side of his face.

On the outside, he showed no reaction. On the inside, however, he was cursing at how hard the punch really hurt. Issei removed his fist from Sirzechs face quickly. "What is going on here? I could feel the fighting all the way from my office! Why is Grayfia even fighting Issei-kun?"

Zeoticus stood up and answered the question. "Well, as unbelievable as it sounds, Issei Hyoudou told us about how he bested Grayfia, somehow, he turned her into a stuttering mess and she stomped away in frustration. Issei Hyoudou then laughed, which resulted in Grayfia engaging him in a battle."

Sirzechs' jaw dropped to the floor. He slowly turned his head to Issei, almost mechanically. "Y-You made Grayfia show emotion?" Issei rose an eyebrow.

"Why is everyone making a bigger fuss about Grayfia-san showing emotion than me being able to go tow to tow with her?" Grayfia scowled once again. "You did not go tow to tow with me!" Grayfia screamed.

Sirzechs quickly turned around and stared at Grayfia in shock. His mouth opening and closing like a fish while watching Grayfia's red face glare at Issei.

"So, let me get this straight. Grayfia-san rarely ever shows emotion?" Issei asked. Sirzechs nodded slowly. "Wow, I feel sorry for you then. That must be a really boring sex life if she doesn't show any emotions."

Everybody in the room froze. Out of all the things he could have said, of all the things he could have mentioned, he had to go and mention Sirzechs and Grayfia's sex life, which to everyone who lived in the Gremory house knew, was nonexistent.

That reason is that they all knew that Grayfia didn't hold _any_ romantic feelings towards Sirzechs, she was simply unwillingly forced into a marriage with Sirzechs and forced to copulate with him. Millicas, was a different story, even if he was the son of a man she didn't particularly care for, she still loved Millicas unconditionally, how could she not? He was her son after all.

Issei looked around the room and took notice of the faces of the maids of the Gremory house, and he knew there was something wrong. "I see, so that's how it is." Issei said with a solemn look on his face. On the inside, however, he was furious.

'So, this is the same man, who was completely appalled at the idea of an arranged marriage with his little sister but will go and force a woman into a forced marriage with himself and have no problems with it. I'm sorry Sirzechs, but you've lost all of my respect.'

"I'll be excusing myself. I need some time to think, and Grayfia-san," He looked at Grayfia and seen her cold visage had returned. "I'm sure one day everything will be alright." Issei said with a smile and when everyone but Grayfia herself looked away from him winked at her.

Grayfia got the message loud and clear, that he would try to do something to help her in her unfortunate situation, but she knew the chances of that was minimal. After all, she was already married to Sirzechs and already copulated with him. The only ways to escape her basically forced servitude, would for Sirzechs to die, or for her to go astray.

Although she wasn't too appalled at the idea of Sirzechs dying, she would rather that not happen. He was the father of her son after all, and Millicas loved Sirzechs, so she didn't want her son to lose someone he loved. And the chances of them getting divorced, and her being relieved of the Gremory household, was minimal.

For one, Sirzechs would never agree to divorce her. In fact, she was sure if he could, he would force her to become a breeding stock and make multiple offspring. But in their marriage contract, it stated she only needed to birth one heir to the house of Gremory. Thus, she couldn't be forced to have sex, nor give birth to any more children.

Contrary to popular belief, Sirzechs wasn't the nice guy everyone saw him as. In fact, even his own family didn't know how manipulative Sirzechs was. However, that's what made him so great at ruling the underworld. Because he could manipulate anybody, besides Ajuka, without them even knowing.

The only thing stopping Grayfia from becoming a stray devil or taking her own life was her son Millicas. He was the only thing that kept her 'loyal', in a sense, to Sirzechs and the house of Gremory. The only people she cared about, was her son Millicas, and her 'husband's' little sister, Rias.

Even if Rias didn't have any blood relation, and if her marriage with Sirzechs was a loveless one, she still saw Rias as her sister-in-law. Unlike the rest of the Gremory house, Rias didn't know that Sirzechs forced Grayfia into a marriage. Sirzechs made sure of that himself.

He had told everyone in the house of Gremory, that if they told her, or even gave her the slightest hint that he was the manipulative son of a bitch he was, that he would have them, and their family, publicly executed for treason against the underworld. He even had his own damn parents under his thumb.

After that situation was all said and done, Issei left the kitchen and went back to his room. 'I knew that Sirzechs wasn't the guy that he let everyone believe he was, after all, he is the Lucifer mauo. Those titles were given to the mauos for a reason. They were given those titles because they were _the most_ qualified. And that did not only mean in terms of strength but the ability to lead in Sirzechs' case.'

'The is the reason why I knew he wasn't the person he leads everyone to believe. But what just happened then, now I know somewhat what Sirzechs is really like. Most people in the room missed it, in fact, I'm the only one who noticed it, but when I mentioned Grayfia and Sirzechs' sex life, all the maids, as well as Sirzechs' parents froze, and looked at Sirzechs nervously. Once he noticed their stairs, he sent them a glare, and then everyone went from nervous to scared. He had them all under his thumb, and as the Lucifer mauo, that means he can do anything he sees fit to them.'

Issei's fist clenched. This was a side effect of training in his mind so much. Whenever he trained with Ddraig, it also strengthened his mind, it made his mind work faster, thus, he became much more perceptive. That's the only reason why he was able to notice all that.

In addition, because of this perception, his ability to read people movements in fights and predict them was also improved. 'If I had to guess, Grayfia and him are in a forced marriage, and by the slight expressions that Grayfia would show, whether it was just a slight twitch of the corner of the mouth, or even one of her fingers twitching, I could see through her cold front.'

'In fact, when Grayfia noticed Sirzechs in the room, she completely changed, whenever his gaze landed on her, her right pointer finger would twitch, that indicated that she was either nervous or uncomfortable. When I mentioned their sex life, her whole left hand twitched and I could see her trying to force herself not to clench her first, an obvious indication that she holds resentment for Sirzechs. And finally, whenever Sirzechs' name was said, her right pointer finger would twitch, and her eyes unfocused for a fraction of a second, another sign that she holds resentment for him, or at the least, a fear of him.'

'She may be able to put up that cold visage around people, but the things I saw were clear indications that she's suffering. That she is barely making it through day by day, that she hated her current life. I might not be able to do anything about it at the moment, but I will try and help her out once I can.'

He was broken out of his thoughts when there was a knock on his door. "Come in." Soon enough, the door open and Grayfia walked in with a tray of food in her hands. "You left before dinner could be served, I assumed you would like to have some." She walked over to the bed and sat the food on it.

She bowed and went to walk out of the room but was stopped by Issei's voice. "You hate him, don't you?" Grayfia froze. "I'm talking about Sirzechs." Issei watched as her right pointer finger twitched again. "You right pointer finger, whenever his name is mentioned, it always twitches. It's a sign that you either resent him, or you have a fear of him, or both."

Grayfia still had her back turned to him and she had to stop herself from letting her eyes get watery. When she finally responded, it was barely a whisper. "Both."

Issei nodded, not that she could see it. "You know, when I train, I actually do most of it in my mind. It's an advantage I get with have a sentient Sacred Gear. I can go into my mind and train nearly everything in there. The only thing I can't is physical capabilities. But there is another advantage, the more I train in my mind, the stronger my mind become."

Grayfia had a confused face, she didn't know what he was getting at. "To be more precise, the more I train in my mind, the faster my neurons work. If you didn't know, neurons are the fundamental units of the brain and nervous system. It controls sensory input from the external world, sends motor commands to our muscles, and is responsible for transforming and relaying electrical signals in everything we do."

Again, Grayfia was still confused. What did she need a science lesson for? "What I'm getting at, is that with all I've trained in my mind, as a side effect, my brain works faster than most people. The only person I can think of who's brain is faster than my own, would be Ajuka Beelzebub."

Although still confused, she was shocked by what he said. Ajuka was well known for having the fastest brain anybody had ever seen. He was known to make hundreds of battle plans and consider every possible outcome in a matter of only half a second.

"The point is, because of what just happened, I got a pretty good read on your situation. From the almost unknottable reactions and actions in what just happened, this was my evaluation. At the end of the devil Civil War, Sirzechs forced you to become a servant of the house of Gremory. After that, for hundreds of years, you stayed as head maid of the house, and once the evil piece system came out, once again Sirzechs forced you into yet another thing. This time, he forced you to become the queen of his peerage. Then, after several centuries of nagging from the elder council about getting a wife, he forced you into marrying him. If I have to guess, in that contract, if stated that you were to give birth to an heir to the house of Gremory. And thus, in the same year you got married to him, you gave birth to Millicas. After that, your life went back to the way it was before you got married to him, this time with the title of being Lucifer's wife. Since then, you've been struggling to get by day by day, with the only thing keeping you from taking your own life your son Millicas."

Issei stopped, indicating his summed-up prediction of her life was over. "Am I right?" Grayfia could stop it anymore, and for the first time in centuries, tears escaped her eyes fell to the ground.

Once again, when Grayfia spoke, it was nothing but a faint whisper. "Yes." To her surprise, Issei came up behind her and put her hand on her back and started rubbing it in comfortable circles. "Hey, there's no need to cry. I told you earlier, one day everything will be fine. I might not be able to do anything at the moment, but I promise you I will do everything I can to help you in your situation."

This time, to Issei's shock, Grayfia turned around and hugged him, put her face on his shoulder, and started to cry. "Everything will be alright, I've already come up with multiple ideas to get you out of this situation, I just need time to execute them. Until then, stay strong." Issei said in a comforting voice.

In a way, Issei felt like he was betraying Serafall, but at the same time, he didn't. He did admit to himself that Grayfia could possibly be just as beautiful as Serafall, but he didn't feel the same way for Grayfia as he did Serafall. For him, Serafall was the only person he would ever consider pursuing a relationship. At the moment at least.

In the case that he couldn't gain the respect of the mauos, he knew he would have to move on eventually, and try and find someone else. But he wasn't going to let that happen. He was going to do everything in his power to make sure he would gain that respect.

"Why? Why are you helping me? Do you even realize what he will do if he finds out about this?" Grayfia said in a whisper. Issei frowned, that was another thing he considered. If Sirzechs found out about what he was doing, he would most likely have Issei killed. But, he couldn't leave Grayfia to a fate like this.

"It's because you don't deserve to live a life like this. Nobody does. That's why I promise you I'll try and help you. Even if it costs me my life. Because it disgusts me that Sirzechs would do this to someone, anyone, no matter who the person is."

Grayfia soon stopped crying and let go of him. She wiped the tears from her now red and puffy eyes. "I'm sorry for the way I acted, I will be taking my leave now." Issei waved off the apology and watched as she turned around to leave. Right before she opened the door, she paused for a few seconds. "Thank you." She said in a whisper, but Issei still heard it.

Without waiting for a reply, Grayfia left the room. Issei sighed and flopped down onto the bed. "Why do I always get myself into troublesome stuff like this? This will only make my life harder." Issei shook his head and grabbed the tray of food Grayfia brought him.

After he finished eating it, he took a shower and went to bed for the night. An hour into his sleep, Xenovia, Asia, and Irina stopped by his room asking if they could sleep in his bed since they felt weird sleeping alone in such big rooms. Too tired to argue Issei allowed and went back to bed.

* * *

The next morning, he woke up in a rather interesting position. Asia was to his right like she usually is every morning, but this time he had two other guests in his bed. Those were Xenovia and Irina.

Irina was laying quite latterly, on top of him, using his stomach as a pillow. And Xenovia was using his legs as a pillow as her legs tried to ruthlessly strangle him. 'Not exactly what I imagined waking up between someone's thighs would be like.' Issei thought to himself in amusement.

After ten minutes of getting all three girls in his bed awake, Issei got dressed in his usual clothes and went on with his day. Today, the young devil gathering was to happen, and they would be leaving at noon.

As everyone gathered in their formal clothing, for everyone bar Issei, who wore the same clothes as before. It wasn't that they didn't try and get him to wear something more formal, he just refused to wear anything like a suit for the reason it had too much clothing.

So, Issei was gathering a lot of attention considering everyone else was wearing tuxedos, dresses, and gowns. While Issei was walking about armed to the teeth with weapons on display and not so formal clothing.

As they walked through the halls Issei ignored all the stares of shock and the whispers people were making about him. Rias said that she and her peerage were there to make sure that none of the younger generation got out of hand and started fighting.

Issei however, knew that any second know someone would start fighting with someone else. After all, that's what devils tend to do, they always start bloating about whoever has the better peerage or who's household is better, and it always results in a fight.

Just as Issei was thinking this, a door a few feet in front of them burst open. "Looks like you really want to die, Zephydor." I woman with long blond hair going down to her back, purple/pink eyes, and glasses said.

The other person in question was a man with blue hair with two long strands going down to his hips. He had tan skin and green eyes with lightning bolt-like markings on his cheeks. "You stink of virginity! What wro-"The man didn't say anymore because a senbon needle was sent into his shoulder and he fell the ground unconscious.

Everyone looks around for the culprit and looked at Issei as he just kept walking like nothing ever happened. "Did Issei do that?" Rias asked in shock. Suddenly, a deep voice from behind Rias answered.

"Yea, that was Hyoudou-kun. When all of you stopped to see what was going on he kept walking and threw a senbon needle at Zephydor. It seems the needle was coated with narcotics and it knocked Zephydor out cold.

Everyone looked behind Rias and were shocked to find Sairaorg walking up to their group. "Sairaorg?" Sairaorg stopped and looked at Rias. "Hey, Rias. Nice to see you again." Sairaorg said with a large smile.

"Come on Buchou, we don't have all day. We still need to greet the mauos. We can talk about the annoying blue haired guy later, for now, we need to go see your brother." Everyone looked to Issei and saw his annoyed face.

"I guess we will be leaving for now, then." Rias said, even if she was slightly ticked off that Issei was telling her what to do when she was _his_ master. Not the other way around.

A few minutes later, they reached the hall where all the important devils were, including all four of the mauos. After greeting Sirzechs, they all went their separate ways to socialize with the other devils. Issei decided to go and get a drink of juice.

However, before he could get to the juice he was intercepted by a woman with blond drill-like hair. "Red Dragon Emperor!" Issei looked to his left to find Ravel Phenex standing there, staring at him with a slight blush.

"Fried chicken's little sister?" Issei responded in somewhat shock. He didn't really expect her to talk to him ever again, not after what he did to her brother. "Speaking of your brother, how's he doing? Having meaningless sex with his peerage I assume? Bar you of course. Unless you and him are into that kind of stuff." Issei said in amusement.

Ravel blushed a deep red. "I do not have that kind of relationship with my brother!" Ravel nearly yelled. Luckily for her, no one else heard her. "I am no longer in his peerage either. But your assumption would be correct, that is all he ever does. He won't leave the house now because of his fear of dragons, so he just stays in his room all day having sex with his harem." Ravel said in obvious annoyance and disgust.

"Well, that's not a surprise. So, if you're not in his peerage anymore, then what happened? Did you get your own peerage?" Ravel shook her head in a negative.

"No, I was transferred to my mother's peerage. Since she doesn't compete in any rating games, I'm a free bishop now." Issei nodded in understanding. "Also," She then took out a black cylinder with a phoenix marking, the item itself looked very similar to a women's sex toy. Because of that, he decided to mess with her a bit.

"A dildo? Why are you giving me your dildo? I don't have any need for one." Issei said plainly. Ravel's gained an atomic blush in an instant and looked away. After a minute of calming down, she looked back at him.

"It is not a dildo! It is a Phenix Tear. You should be grateful, this is usually a gift to a High-class devil! You are an inferior devil at best." Ravel said. Issei rolled his eyes and took the tear.

"Hai, Hai. I already knew that, I was just messing with you." He then noticed out of the corner of his eye that Koneko stiffened suddenly before running off. "Anyways, I have to get going, I have something to check on." He said as he put his hand on top of her head and patted it.

He then left, but Ravel sat there with a blush on her face while feeling where Issei had just patted. As Issei left the hall, Rias noticed Koneko leave and then Issei too and decided to join him to find out what was going on.

After following Koneko through a forest, they finally stopped when Koneko stopped in front of a woman with two black tails and a set of black ears laying in a tree. "Kuroka." Koneko said in her normal dull voice.

Said woman looked at her with a smirk. "Shirone. I only sent out a bit of my chi. I'm glad you can still feel our sisterly bond." Issei's eyes widened. 'So then, Koneko is a nekoshou? That actually makes sense now that I think about it.'

"What do you want, Kuroka." Koneko glared at her sister, cause Kuroka to smirk even more. "What do you think, babe? I came to take you with me back to the Khaos Brigade." Koneko snarled at her sister.

Issei decided now would be a good time to intervein. After all, he already knew that Kuroka knew they were there. She was nekoshou quite adept at Senjutsu after all. "Yea, sorry. I can't let you do that, Koneko is precious to me, and I'm not going to just let you take her just because you want to." Issei said as he walked out from behind the tree.

"I was wonder how long you and that red-haired bitch would hide there." Kuroka jumped down from the tree and got into a defensive stance. She had already heard what this guy had done to Vali, so she knew that Issei was strong. Probably stronger than her.

"Hai, Hai. I don't have time to waste fighting you, I think I'll just knock you out really quick and leave." His fun was cut short however when the same guy that saved Vali came to the rescue. He looked at me and narrowed his eyes before turning his gaze to Kuroka.

"Come on, Kuroka. We're leaving. We won't be able to fight him, Vali even said it himself." Kuroka looked at Koneko with a look a of longing before reluctantly nodding and teleporting her and Bikou out of the forest.

Koneko looked down and clenched her fist, struggling to keep her tears back. Issei came behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Koneko. I won't let Kuroka do anything to you, nor anyone else that we care about." Koneko reluctantly nodded.

"Come on, guys. We have to report this to my brother." Rias said as they all started walking back to the young devil gathering. Little did they know, that they were currently fighting a minor Asgardian God at the young devil gathering at the moment.

 **This is an author not for the people who think that Issei is getting too strong, too quick. So for those people, I'm going to prove to you that Issei is not getting too strong, too quick. In all honesty, I made him underpowered then what he could be. Now, here is what I mean by that. In Highschool DxD, it is a common fact that Supernatural beings are able to run much faster than humans. I would say the average speed of maybe a high-class devil would be 60 mph. Now keep that in mind. Next, we are going to talk about Issei's weight training. In Highschool DxD, it had shown Koneko carrying 2000 pounds of weight on her body. Now, in this story, Issei uses mainly physical capabilities. So, we are going to say, at the end of his latest training, he wore 2000 pounds of weight on each foot. In all honesty, that sounds about right for supernatural beings, and I think you all can agree that that would be possible for him.**

 **Now, say he can run, 30 mph with his weights on. About just as fast as the fastest human alive in real life. Now, in this story, we are going to say that Issei is 140 pounds. Considering his height and the physique he has in the story; 140 pounds is pretty accurate. So, with all this, we have that he weighs 140 pounds, and can run 30mph with 2000 pounds of weight on. This means, that he can run 30mph while wearing weight 14.3 times his body weight. So, when those weight are removed, he would run 14.3 times as fast as he would with the weights on. So, instead of 30 mph, he would run around 430 mph. That's nearly the speed of sound. And keep this in mind, this is the underestimate version. I could have made him so much stronger. I could have made him faster than the speed of sound while being scientifically proven that he could run that fast, but I didn't. Hell, I didn't even make him possible of running 430 mph. So don't tell me I made him overpowered, he's not. That's the bottom line.**


	11. Mid-class Exams

Disclaimer! No matter how hard I wish I do not own High School DxD in any way, shape, or form!

" " – Somebody Talking

' ' – Somebody Thinking

 _" " – Flashback_

 **" " – Ddraig Talking**

 **' ' – Ddraig Thinking**

 **[ ] – Boosted Gear**

* * *

Issei and the rest of Rias' peerage were standing to the side of a table. They watched and listed as the leaders of the three factions discussed a minor God named Loki, the God of Mischief, who had apparently attacked everyone at the gathering while he and Rias chased down Koneko.

Issei wasn't paying too much attention to the conversation, as not much of it was actually important. But, he could still hear they all were saying.

"We need to send a team in to take out Loki. He will only stay sealed for so long. Probably another hour at most." Ajuka said and everyone was in agreement with him. Issei internally groaned. 'It took you 30 minutes to say that? Really? 30 minutes? If you all would stop talking about stuff that didn't matter for shit in this situation, we would have already advised a plan.'

"Why not send the people we have here currently? I heard from Sirzechs that the Red Dragon Emperor over there was able to go tow to tow with Grayfia Lucifuge." The leaders looked at Issei while he stared back at them with a bored expression.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea. We should send backup just in case as well." Sirzechs was the one that proposed the idea. He didn't fool Issei however, Issei could see that Sirzechs didn't want Issei to get recognition for defeating Loki.

Why? One may ask. Issei had already noticed that Sirzechs felt threatened by Issei. Sirzechs was threatened by the rate at which Issei was growing in strength. He feared that Issei would take his position as the Lucifer mauo. And getting the recognition of defeating a minor God will only draw more attention to him. That was something Sirzechs didn't want.

"I suggest that his master, as well as the rest of her peerage go as well. However, they should not interfere in this fight what so ever. Issei is the only one out of them with nearly enough strength to take on a minor God like Loki." Ajuka commented once more.

Ajuka, was another person that noticed Sirzechs didn't want Issei getting the recognition for defeating a minor God. After all, everything that Issei noticed, Ajuka already had several seconds before him. He wasn't known as the smartest and most perceptive devil in all of history for nothing.

Sirzechs may be Ajuka's best friend, but he didn't always agree with the stuff Sirzechs did. And Ajuka personally believed that Issei was already strong enough to be a candidate for the seat of one of the mauos. Of course, the only seat that fit Issei's strengths was the Lucifer seat. The Lucifer seat was the seat for the strongest devil in the underworld. And at the rate Issei was growing in strength, Ajuka knew he would soon surpass both him _and_ Sirzechs.

All the leaders nodded at Ajuka's suggestion and agreed that they would send Issei to take care of Loki with his master and her peerage as his support. "Very well, everyone being sent to the battle, get prepared for the fight." Instantly, Issei stepped up to the table and started unsealing all his equipment.

Everyone stared at him with wide eyes as they watched him unseal his swords and daggers followed by hundreds of senbon needles and knives and finally several poisons. Then they all watched as he put all the equipment on him and conceal everything but 5 swords and 2 daggers.

Issei then looked behind him. "You heard them, go get ready. We don't have all day." Issei then went over to one of the chairs in the room before sitting down and pulling out a book and started reading.

The rest of the people that would be joining him soon got ready and gathered outside the castle where Issei was now waiting. As they got prepared to teleport away and to the place where the battle would take place, Koneko tugged on his arm.

"Hey, pervert. If I was scared, what would you say." Issei looked down and gave her a warm smile. "To not be. I understand your past and what your afraid of, and I can assure you, I won't let you lose control. And even if you do, you can count on me to knock you back to your senses." Issei smile turned so big that his eyes were forced shut while Koneko gained a light dusting of pink and looked away.

* * *

Soon enough they were teleported to what looked like a wasteland and waited for Loki to get out of the seal that Ajuka trapped him in. Loki looked around and stopped looking when his eyes landed on Issei. "Vali told us a lot about you. He said you were strong, so I look forward to a good fight. If you don't give me a good fight, then I will kill all your little friend, Red Dragon." Loki said with a smirk of arrogance.

Everyone's eyes widened when before their eyes Issei gained that glint in his eyes they had seen before, but this time they watched as a multiple strands of his black hair turned brown. "Is that so?"

Loki's eyes narrowed. "Yes. But until then, I want to see how you do against my pets." Vali said as he summoned Fenrir and two of his children as well as a dragon king. Issei saw out of the corner of his eye that everyone in Rias' peerage got ready to fight.

"Stand down." Issei said in a commanding tone. Everyone looked at him shocked and wanted to disobey what you said. "The leaders put me in charge of this mission, so it's my choice. Stand down." A few of the members looked infuriated and looked like they were going to still fight but Issei stopped them with a glare. "Superiors order. Follow them!" Issei said in a threatening voice that made everyone stand down.

Issei then turned his gaze back to the three wolves and dragon. He reached towards his back and pulled out the 1 sword he had holstered on his back at the level of hip. He then reached into his jacket and pulled out a golden liquid. He opened it before splashing it on his blade, making sure to not let any of it touch his skin.

He then put the liquid back in his jacket and narrowed his eyes at the dragon king. "To think you would stoop so low to follow the orders of a minor god. Where's your pride?" The comment infuriated the dragon king and it shot forward at Issei.

Issei walked to the edge of the cliff he was on before pushing off it slightly and jumped towards the dragon king. Although he only pushed off the cliff lightly, he still made an indent from where he pushed off and was in front of the dragon king within half a second and was already cutting through it horizontally.

For everyone but Loki, it all happened in a blink of an eye. Issei pushed off the cliff and disappeared from their vision, and then the dragon king was sliced in half. Loki snarled. "That liquid you put on the blade, it was dragon slayer poison. That's how you were able to cut through his scales." Issei looked up at Issei before sheathing the blade he was using and pulling out two of the blades on his back.

"Why did he switch blades?" Gasper asked everyone. "You just heard what Loki said, that blade was covered in dragon slayer poison. If he accidentally got himself cut by the blade, it would do serious damage to him considering it was able to cut a dragon king." Rias answered.

As soon as Issei had unsheathed the two blades, the two children of Fenrir shot forward, dead set on eating Issei. Issei looked at them with a bored expression since to him, they looked like they were moving in slow motion.

Just like before, to everybody except Loki, Issei disappeared from everyone's vision and in that same second, both of Fenrir's children stopped their advance before both of their heads fell off their bodies. Everyone looked around and found Issei standing on top of Fenrir's nose, staring into his eyes.

Fenrir was snarling at him and decided to throw Issei up into the air by tossing his head up quickly. Issei's expression didn't change, he just sheathed one of his swords before pulling out both daggers with one hand and throwing them at Fenrir.

Both daggers found their way implanted into the eyes of Fenrir, blinding him and cause him to scratch at his eyes with his paws. Soon, Issei landed, but he landed on top of Fenrir's head, with his sword imbedded into his skull. After that, he channeled elemental lightning magic into his sword and throughout the inside of Fenrir's body, killing him.

Issei then removed half of his weight magic, not that anybody else knew, and looked up at Loki. "That was impressive, I must say." Loki would have said more but Issei appeared in front of Loki in what was a blur to Loki, but teleporting to everyone else watching.

"Thank you," Issei said dryly before swinging his blade, aimed at Loki's midsection. The most Loki could do was raise his arm in defense, sacrificing his arm instead of getting cleaved in half. Blood gushed out of Loki's now stump of an arm that was missing from the elbow down.

He let out a gut-wrenching cry of agony before his whole body suddenly stiffened. "T-The blade! It had a paralysis poison on it!" Issei looked at him with the same glint in his eyes that the people watching had seen several times before. "Correct."

He then raised the blunt of his sword and hit Loki in the forehead with it, effectively knocking him out. "This was a minor god?" Issei said to himself. "Disappointing." Issei then picked him up and tossed him over his shoulder and walked but to Rias and the rest of her peerage.

"Akeno-chan, teleport us to the leaders please." Issei's eyes then turned back to normal, however his hair stayed the same. Soon enough, Akeno had the teleportation circle ready and they all teleported to the leaders.

The leaders were all having a good time drinking tea and discussing several things, not expecting Issei and the rest of the ORC to come back for quite some time still, since Loki was unsealed only 7 minutes ago. That was short lived however when a Gremory teleportation circle appeared in their meeting room.

Out of the circle, came Rias and her peerage with an unconscious Loki slumped over Issei's shoulder, except he was missing an arm. Everyone's there's eyes widened at the scene. "Your already back?!" Sirzechs shouted in exasperation.

Issei looked at Sirzechs and shrugged. "He was so weak I'm somewhat disappointed. I didn't even have to use 25% of my base power." The leaders all stared at Issei in shock and awe, but Issei noticed that Sirzechs also seemed to be infuriated at his statement judging by the way his right pointer finger kept twitch every few seconds.

"What do I do with this?" Issei said while shrugging the shoulder that he had Loki currently on. "Bind him and put him over there for now." Ajuka said while motioning towards one of the corners in the room.

Issei nodded and used magic to bind him and make sure he couldn't go anywhere while Ajuka asked Rias to report what happened. She then went on to explain everything that happened in the fight. The people there had to say they were greatly impressed. But, at this point, Issei doing something like making a minor God look like an ant wasn't surprising.

Ajuka released a sigh of annoyance. All the stuff happening recently was just one massive headache. "Well, before you go Issei-kun. The mid-class devil exams are being held in two weeks. I believe everyone here can agree that you meet the requirements to the exam." Everyone there nodded in agreement.

Issei nodded with his normal stoic face. It fell however when Sirzechs spoke up. "Issei-kun, if you don't mind me asking, how is it that you became so powerful so quickly. The fact that you are already Ultimate-class level in terms of strength is astonishing. But, how did you become that strong, that quick?"

Issei's eyes glinted. "If your think that I am merely Ultimate-class level then you are sadly mistaken. Like I said at the three-faction meeting, keep that seat warm for me, I'll be taking it soon enough." With that, Issei walked out of the room, leaving everyone in there shocked.

Rias stepped forward in front of all the mauo's seeing their shocked and angered faces. "I'm sorry about that. That was Issei's dragon personality, a side effect of his Sacred Gear. It comes out often during fights and when somebody questions him. His dragon personality isn't the most respectful, I am sincerely sorry for that."

Ajuka was the only person there that noticed the truth behind what Rias said. Rather than a side effect of his Sacred Gear, Ajuka saw through her and knew that it was something else. Most likely that he was changed into a partial dragon.

Issei was walking through the halls with the same glint in his eyes that he had before. Unlike usual, it wasn't leaving as quickly, and if one looked closely enough, they would see some of his black hair slowly turning brown.

'My dragon personality is showing up more and more often. Not only that, but every time it comes out, it speeds up the process of my dragon genes overwriting all my other genes. It won't be long until both my personalities merge.' Issei thought amongst himself as he made his way to the room he had been staying in.

'The mid-class exams, they shouldn't be hard. After all, I've already far surpassed mid-class strength and knowledge. It's a shame I can't just skip the ranks and go straight to high-class and then ultimate-class like a pure blood devil. Oh well.' He finally reached his room and opened it up.

It only took him a matter of two seconds to find all the things different in the room from the last time he was there. For starters, there was multiple hidden cameras in the room, as well as hidden magic circles that would record everything he said.

On a dresser in the room were multiple snacks, however most of them held some kind of magical signature. From the feel of them, they would make the user more subjectable to commands given by the caster.

Outwards, he made no reaction, he continued to walk in like he never noticed anything in the first place. 'Wow, I didn't think he would go this far to get me under his thumb. My guess is the camera and the audio recording magic circles are for blackmail, and the snacks are just an extra assurance.'

'Well, can't do anything about it, for now I'll just have to wait for the mid-class exams.' Issei then went on like normal with the exception of being more careful of what he does and what he says in his room, unless he wanted to give Sirzechs something he could use against him.

* * *

A week later, we find Issei along with Grayfia in his room. "Today is the mid-class exams, I will be taking you there and picking you up after the test." Grayfia said in her stoic voice. Issei nodded and walked to her.

"Well, let's get going then." Grayfia nodded in response and teleported them away via magic circle. They teleported to a large mansion with phoenix statues all over the yard. "The Phoenix Mansion? This is where the mid-class exams are being held?"

Grayfia nodded. "Yes, the mid-class and high-class exams are always held by one of the 72 pillars. This time, it was the Phoenix's turn to host the mid-class exams." Issei sighed. Out of all the families, it had to be the Phenex. It was his guess they didn't like him too much for what he did to Riser, and how he ended the engagement between Riser and Rias.

Grayfia led Issei through the mansion and into a large room with a total of 200 chairs and desk. All along the walls were phoenix statues and some real actual phoenix's flying around. Inside the room were around forty devils sitting in the chairs and about 12 guards watching them.

At the front, staring at Issei, was a woman no more than 20 years old with long blond hair going down to her rather shapely butt, azure blue eyes that contrasted well with her hair, and a nice red dress that showed a little bit of her cleavage.

It didn't take very long for Issei to notice who this woman was. It was Riser's mother, and by the look of it, she didn't hold any resentment, but rather just surprised to see him. She soon averted her attention.

"This is where the first part of the exam will be held. I will be here to pick you up after you take the exam." Issei smiled at her and waved. "Thank you, Grayfia-san. I will see you after my test." Issei watched as the corners of Grayfia's mouth just barley twitched into a smile.

Grayfia then bowed to Issei. "I will be taking my leave now. Good luck on you test." Issei smiled and turned around, putting on a stoic face very similar to Grayfia's the instant she left. 'Hopefully this won't be too boring. I really hope that the practical exam will be at least somewhat entertaining, but this is the mid-class exam, so most the people here will be weak.' Issei sighed in annoyance before going and picking the seat closest to him.

"Issei could both feel and see most of the participants and guards gaze focused on him, however he just closed his eyes and leaned back, waiting for the exam to start. Five minutes after he closed his eyes he felt Riser's mom's presence walk over to him and stop. Issei rose and eyebrow and opened one of his eyes.

"Is there something I can do for you, Lady Phoenix?" The woman smiled at Issei. "Not necessarily, I would just like to thank you for knocking some sense into my son. Ever since that fight with you, he has been somewhat more docile when it comes to his "activities." Lady Phoenix said, putting emphasis on activities.

Issei chuckled, knowing that all the people in the room had their attention on him. "You mean, ever since I beat him up, he started using the head to think he was supposed to, and not the head below the belt like he used to." Lady Phoenix's smile fell, but she didn't show any signs of being offended by what Issei said. Most likely because it was true.

"Yes, that is correct. My name is Raven Phoenix by the way, it's a pleasure to meet you." Raven's smile returned when she introduced herself and extended her hand to Issei. "Although I'm sure you already know, I'm Issei Hyoudou, pleasure to meet you as well." Issei accepted her hand and shook it. "How's Riser-san doing by the way? Last I heard from Ravel-san, he wouldn't leave the house because of his fear of dragons."

Raven grew a bitter smile. "Yes, he refused to leave his house and sometimes even his room because of his fear of dragons. That is one thing I would _not_ like to thank you for, his fear of dragons can get irritating at times." Issei chuckled again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare Riser-san that bad. Maybe while I'm here I can pay him a visit. Maybe it will help him get over his fears?" Issei said with an amused smile.

Raven's face shifted to horror. "No, no, that won't be necessary. I think that would only make it worse." Issei chuckled again and noticed as he looked around the room that most of the seats were now filled. Raven followed his eyes and noticed it was about time to start the exam. "It was nice meeting you, good luck on your exam Issei Hyoudou." Issei nodded and smiled at the woman. "It was a pleasure meeting you as well, and good luck with curing Riser's fears." Raven grew a bitter smile again remembering her son's fears but nodded and left to the front of the room nonetheless.

As she got to the front, she waited until all the seats were filled, which took another 5 minutes. Once all the seats were filled, she clapped her hands, gathering the attention of everyone in the room. "Hello, and welcome to the Phoenix Mansion. Your mid-class exams will be held here today, and I do hope you enjoy your stay while you are here. My name is Raven Phoenix and I will be the proctor for your statistical exam. After this, will be a practical exam."

Raven then took a glance at one of the guards in the room, earning a nod from him. The guard then took out some papers and handed them to the other guards as well. "Now, we will be handing out the papers. Do not flip them over until I say so, if you do flip them over before that, you will be failed." Nobody's facial expression changed, after all, they expected as much.

Raven waited for the guards to pass out a paper to everyone before continuing. "You will have two hours to complete all one hundred questions on the test. Anything below a 70% will result in failure. Your test starts… Now!" Everybody in the room flipped over the exam they had been given and glance at the questions.

The reactions around the room were varied. Some expressions were of horror, most likely thinking the questions were hard, some relived, thinking that the questions were ok, and some confident one, thinking the questions was easy.

Issei's facial expression didn't change at all, he simply picked up his pencil and started writing down the answers to the test. 'Majority of the questions are stuff I learned in the first few books I learned. Well, it can't be helped. After all, this is only the mid-class exams.'

After twenty minutes of answering all the questions he was done. He took a quick glance around the room and saw that he was the only one finished and that he still had an hour and forty minutes until the statistical part of the exam was over.

Deciding that waiting an hour and forty minutes would just be boring, he laid his head on the desk and went to sleep. When the test was nearing the end, with only five minutes left, most people looked to be done, but there was some still working and very few rushing to get the exam finished before time was up.

As the clock hit one minute until the exam was over, Issei opened his eyes and lifted his head off his desk. He looked around with a bored expression, just wishing this part of the exam was over. Just because it was easy, and he often read about the mythologies a lot, didn't mean he like it in any way.

Just like any other dragon, he liked to fight. Not take written test. He turned his attention back to the clock and watched it count down the seconds, which only made it feel like it was taking longer than it should have. Finally, though, the time was finally up and the statistical part of the exam was over.

"Times up, no more answering any of the questions. If you did not finish, then too bad." Raven said in a no excuses voice, directing it to the few people who didn't finish the test in the time given. The guards got up out of their seats for the first time since the test started and collected all the tests.

"We will now be moving onto the practical exam. This will be the last exam of the mid-class exams. Please, follow me." Raven then led everyone to a large room that looked more like an arena. "This is where your practical exam will be held. You will be put up against someone one on one while the people overseeing your fight will evaluate your skills."

She took a pause before continuing. "Keep in mind, that you do not need to win to pass this portion of the exam. What we are looking for is the skills to pass as a mid-class devil." Issei stared with a bored expression but on the inside he felt sorry for whoever had to go up against him.

It wasn't that he was being cocky or arrogant, but it was most likely he would be put up against someone on mid-class level, and Issei most defiantly was not mid-class level in strength, nor intelligence.

Soon enough, everyone was handed a number and told to go to the area that had their number marked. Whoever had the same number as you would be the one you faced. When Issei arrived at his spot, he felt a ping of guilt run through him.

The person he was up against was a girl no more than 16, with brown hair that went down to mid-back and brown eyes. What made him feel a pang of guilt was the determination and hope that shone in her eyes.

Issei knew that this girl badly wanted to pass the exam, and the fact that she most likely did not have a chance against him, made him feel a bit guilty. That is, until a man with blonde hair and azure blue eyes approached them. The man was someone Issei recognized, as he was in the same book that Tannin was where it showed a good amount of the Ultimate-class devils in the underworld. This person was Ruval Phoenix.

"Hello, miss, but I would like you to step aside. I will personally be testing this persons strength." The girl looked behind her and was shocked when she realized who it was. "What?! But your Ruval Phoenix! He wouldn't stand a chance against you, you an Ultimate-class devil!" She screamed, garnering the attention of everyone in the room.

Everyone stared confused, but all the contestants were shocked by what Ruval said next. "That is true, and normally an overseer wouldn't test the participant. However, I won't be the only Ultimate-class devil in this fight. This participant here is also Ultimate-class in terms of strength. This is the same man that bested my brother, Riser, in a fight. And also took out a minor God. I would take a wager and say he might even be stronger than myself." The girl stared at Ruval dumbfounded. She was about to fight someone who could take on Gods and come out of it alive?

She didn't need to hear another word and stepped out of the way. However, this was stopped when Raven interfered. "Ruval, honey, I don't think it's a good idea to personally test him." Issei looked at her and had to stop himself from laughing by the look on her face. It wasn't that she didn't think it was a good idea, considering he would annihilate anyone else, it was that she was scared of the outcome.

And not for Issei either. She was scared that afterword's that Ruval would come down with same fear that Riser did. "Don't worry Lady Phoenix, I promise not to give him the same treatment I gave Riser-san. I don't think you deserve to have two Phoenix's too scared to leave the house because of a fear of dragons."

Raven's eyes widened. She was shocked by the fact that he could see right through her. Issei himself expected Ruval to laugh and go on a rant about a low-class devil not being able to do anything of the like but was surprised when he heard Ruval start to let out a genuine laugh.

"Mother, you don't have to worry about that. I can promise you I won't turn out like Riser-kun. I promise." Ruval said with an amused smile. "A non-arrogant Phoenix? That's a welcomed change." Issei muttered to himself.

Raven sighed and dropped her shoulders in defeat. "Fine." Raven then stepped far enough back not to get caught in between their fight. Ruval and Issei stared at each other for a few minutes. "I'm curious to see how strong the person rumored to go tow to tow with Grayfia Lucifuge is. But I must ask, is that rumor even true? After all, I have witnessed her strength myself, and I can't even begin to imagine someone as young as you matching her strength."

Issei smirked as the glint in his eyes came and a few strands of his black hair turned brown once again. "I don't know, Ruval-san. How about you come and see for yourself." Ruval got into a fighting stance and let out his flaming wings. "Actually, on second thought…" Issei then disappeared from everyone but Ruval's vision, however was just a blur to Ruval himself.

Issei then appeared behind Ruval. "How about I come to you." Issei then kicked Ruval in the back, sending Ruval across the stadium and crashing into the wall. "Hey! If your going to fight, at least make sure you don't ruin the mansion!" Raven screamed from the sides.

Issei looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "It can be fixed." He then stuck his right fist out and catching Ruval's left fist right before it hit him in the face. "Your fast. I heard the rumors that your speed was something that not even Grayfia herself could keep up with. Is it true?" Ruval asked Issei with a few beads of sweat running down his face.

Issei smirked and chuckled a little. "If you think this is fast, your sadly mistaken." Ruval's face grew into confusion. "You haven't even seen a tenth of my full speed." Ruval and everyone else's eyes widened at the statement.

Issei smirked at Ruval's face. "I've been wondering, just how far can your immortality go? For Riser-san it was getting a few limbs destroyed a few times. But he was a fool that never trained, so I wonder, just how long you will last." Issei's grin grew sadistic before Ruval was stabbed in the side with a dagger.

Ruval coughed some blood and winced at the pain but knew it would heal in only a few seconds. He was surprised however when Issei twisted the dagger 180 degrees before pulling it out. Ruval coughed out more blood, but once the dagger was gone, his wound healed in only a matter of ten seconds.

"That really hurt, you know. Even if I'm immortal, I still feel pain you know." Ruval was greatly surprised though when suddenly it felt like his insides was burning and he fell to his knees, vomiting liter after liter of blood. "That dagger, it had poison on it, didn't it?"

"Yes, the dagger had a single drop of holy water on it. Not enough to kill you, but enough to injure you." It took a matter of two minutes before Ruval's healing abilities flushed the holy water out of his system, and another two to heal his insides. Ruval stood up, somewhat wobblily.

"That's cheating, using holy water on a dagger." Ruval said with a chuckle, meaning it as only a joke. Ruval then took off into the sky via his flaming wings and summoned a large fireball. The air in the room became thinner and everyone could feel the temperature start to rise.

Issei stared at the fire with a smirk. He watched as the flame grew bigger and bigger, until the flame grew nearly to the size of the room itself. His smirk grew wider when he saw Ruval throw the flame at him. "Let's see if your speed can dodge this!"

Issei raised his hand with his palm facing the ceiling. Soon enough, a small ring of white flames appeared on his palm. It moved to his pointer finger and started circling around it. As Ruval's flames got halfway to Issei, he flicked the ring towards the ball of flames. As the white ring approached it, it looked as if Ruval's flames had consumed it entirely. However, soon enough, the white flaming ring exploded and Ruval flames were surrounded by Issei's.

Then, to everyone's shock, Issei's flames started to suck in all the oxygen surrounding Ruval's flames, and watched in awe as Ruval's flames grew smaller and smaller due to the lack of oxygen, and Issei's flames grew bigger and bigger due to the additional oxygen it was consuming.

Once Ruval's flames were gone, Issei's flames dissipated in the air. Everyone focused their attention to the two people in the fight, which included a perfectly fine Issei and a heavily panting Ruval. "It seems that fireball took a lot out of you." Issei stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Ruval chuckled. "Yea, it seems I didn't have a chance in this fight from the very beginning. You win, I concede." He then floated down to the ground and stood on shaky legs. "That was a good match." He stuck his hand out towards Issei who accepted it, as well as Issei losing the glint in his eyes. "Yes, it was nice being able to fight an Ultimate-class devil instead of a mid-class." Issei responded with a smile.

After the fight between Issei and Ruval, the rest of the participants did their fights. This lasted for an hour before all fights were over. Everyone was once again gathered in front of Raven, awaiting their next instructions.

"That is the end of the mid-class exams. You all will receive the results of this exam in one-week time. The guards will show you to the exit, have a good day." Raven said, smiling. Issei sighed and walked off without the guards and took the same route Grayfia took him when she took him to the statistical exam room.

When he arrived outside the castle, he saw Grayfia standing by the fountain, waiting for him. He approached her with a smile. "Hey, Grayfia-san. I hope your day was good." Grayfia nodded back to him but didn't have any facial changes. "Thank you, I wish the same to you."

Issei shrugged. "It was ok. If anything, a little boring. Oh well." Grayfia's expression still didn't change, she just stood there. "Well, let's get going. No point in wasting time standing here." Grayfia nodded and prepared her teleportation circle and teleported him back to the room he had been staying at while he was in the Gremory mansion.

"Dinner will be served in an hour. After that, Rias and her peerage will be returning to the overworld." Issei nodded in response and waved her goodbye, at least until dinner. Grayfia bowed and left the room. Issei sighed before falling back onto his bed. "Well, mid-class exams are done, just two more to go. And then I can finally fulfill my promise."

* * *

In a room on the other side of the castle, was one Sirzechs Lucifer watching Issei through the camera he thought was hidden in Issei's room. "Promise? He said the same thing when I asked him why he wanted to get stronger at the three-faction meeting. Just what is this promise?"

Sirzechs sighed and closed the computer screen that showed Issei on it and walked over to his window. "I need him to get stronger, but not this quick. At this rate, he really will take my Lucifer title, and I can't allow that to happen. Not until this is over. I can't let those people go through with what they're planning." Sirzechs said while clenching his fist until the point where he drew blood while staring out of his window.

"I'll probably be damned to the second ring for everything I have done, to Grayfia, to the maids of the house of Gremory, and even to my own parents. But, the underworld needs to be stronger in order to face what is coming. If not, we will not win the war we may have on our hands."


	12. New Crusade

The day after the events of the mid-class exams, everything returned to how it normally is. In Issei's opinion, extremely boring. He returned to the same endless cycle of doing devil duties, attending school, and training. Nothing out of place ever happened, and it was as dull as dull gets. And considering Issei was mostly dragon, his boredom was intensified tenfold.

After just five days of the same cycle, he decided he had enough. When he got home, he went up to his and Asia's room and pulled out the communication paper he had to contact Serafall with, if needed. The circle glowed a light blue and soon enough, he heard Serafall's voice through the paper.

"Issei-kun? Is there something you need?" Serafall's soft melodic voice came from the paper. Issei couldn't help the smile that came to his face. Serafall always had a way to warm him up like no other person ever could.

"Yea. I would like to get in contact with Falbium Asmodeus. Is it possible for you to do that?" Issei hears Serafall start shifting. "Why would you need to get in contact with Falbium? Whatever it is, you can tell me. I promise I'll do whatever I can to help." From the concern heavy in her voice, it was blatantly obvious she didn't want Issei to be in contact with Falbium.

"Sorry, Sera-chan. But you're the head of foreign affairs. The reason I have for getting in contact with the mauos consults Falbium-sama." From the sounds coming from the paper, Issei could tell she didn't like where this was going.

"But Falbium is the head of our military. I don't want you to get involved with that, Issei-kun." The pleading voice and heavy worry evident in her tone made Issei frown. "I figured you wouldn't. But, don't worry. I'm not joining the devil military, I simply have a proposition I would like to propose to him."

Serafall released a heavy sigh. "Fine, I'll set up a meeting between you and Falbium. I still don't agree with this though." Issei chuckled as a smile appeared on his face. "Thank you, Sera-chan., Don't worry, I promise I won't do anything stupid. Maybe." The last of which he thought to himself. Knowing that if he told her the proposition he wanted to propose, she would outright refuse.

After a few minutes of silence, Serafall spoke once again. "You're in luck, there's an opening in his schedule tomorrow at noon. I will send one of my maids to accompany you to the meeting tomorrow. Don't do anything stupid. Goodbye."

"Hai, Hai. Goodbye Sera-chan. Have fun doing paperwork." Issei chuckled when she growled at him for the mention of the paperwork she had to do. Afterword's, he ended the transmission and went on with his day. If Falbium agreed with what Issei had planned, Issei's life would be a lot different than what it is now.

The next day, Issei sat in the ORC, waiting for the maid Serafall was sending to arrive. Everyone was in the clubroom, however, only Issei knew that there would be a visitor coming to the ORC soon enough. Everyone else thought that they were having their normal lunch break, just like any other day.

As the eerie light blue teleportation circle appeared in the room, everyone but Issei tensed, not expecting any visitors. They were surprised to see a maid come out of the teleportation circle and only then did the people in the room take notice that the circle had the crest of Sitri and relaxed.

Issei stood up and walked to the maid. The maid looked at him from up to down and gave him a nod. "Are you ready to leave Issei-sama?" The others in the room looked at them in surprise and confusion. Issei nodded back. "Yes, thank you for accompanying me to this meeting."

Rias, not able to hold back her confusion, interrupted the exchange. "What meeting?! What is the meaning of this?!" Issei side glances Rias and shrugged her off. "Don't worry about it Buchou. If the meeting goes the way that I hope, you will find out soon enough."

Issei then nodded once again to the maid and they teleported out of the ORC, leaving several confused members, and a furious Rias. 'Who does he think he is?! I am his master! I have a right to know everything going on in his life!'

Issei arrived in the hall of a large mansion. The walls all around were white and lined with gold in exquisite patterns. The ceiling was nearly 20 feet high, and there were windows all along the wall, giving him the view of mountains and forests.

He focused his attention on the maid as she began leading him to Falbium Asmodeus. They spent ten or so minute walk through the palace, Issei finding weak points in the mansion subconsciously. That was one of the things that had changed in him since he started taking his training seriously. He almost never let his guard down, and he always subconsciously checked for weak points, holes in defenses, and escape routes in every building he entered.

They arrived at the double door made of marble and gold, easily 15 feet tall. Seemed Falbium really likes his gold. The maid approached the door and knocked three times. "Asmodeus-sama, Hyoudou Issei is here for his meeting." There was a long pause before a deep and gruff 'come in' came from the other side of the door.

The maid opened the door and signaled Issei to enter the room. He obliged, entering the room with the door shutting as he entered. He looked at a man sitting on an exquisite chair made if marble and gold, like almost everything else in this mansion.

The man was at the least, 7" tall, had bulging muscles and huge muscles all throughout his body that Issei could see even under his armor. The armor was black with gold linings all around. The man had a serious and no-bullshit look on his face and a bald head.

"Hyoudou Issei. I have heard of your accomplishments. I thank you for helping us take care of Loki. It saved me the trouble of wasting my valuable time." Issei kept his face impassive, even if he didn't like Falbium's humongous ego and arrogance.

"Please, have a seat." Falbium said with a scowl that seemed to be forever on his face. Issei obliged once again and took a seat across from him on the other side of his very large table. "So, what do I owe the pleasure of meeting with the Red Dragon Emperor? Looking to join the military?"

Issei's face stayed the same as he stared Falbium straight in the eyes. "No, I have no interest in joining the military." Issei ignored Falbium comment saying "Shame" and continued. "I have a proposition that would be in your interests."

Falbium raised an eyebrow in interest, but the ever-present scowl stayed on his face. "Please, continue."

"I'm offering to take out the Khaos Brigade." Falbium's eyes changed to shock and disbelief. "You say you've heard of my accomplishments, so you know that I am strong. And I have no doubt you heard I was able to go tow to tow with Grayfia Lucifuge. The strongest female devil bar Serafall Leviathan. I would like to remind you I did all this without the use of my Boosted Gear. All I want is permission to pursue taking our the Khaos Brigade."

Falbium eyed Issei with a suspicious eye. Of course he knew Issei was strong, possibly even nearing super devil level like the rest of the mauos and himself. But that was also reason to approach him with caution. But him offering to take out the Khaos Brigade was an offer Falbium wasn't going to overlook. It was a matter of what Issei's motived were.

"What are you're motived for doing this. Or rather, what's your angle for doing this? What are you trying to get out of this?" Falbium started letting out some of his monstrous killing intent, but Issei didn't even flinch.

"Simple. For one, I may be a devil, but I am also a dragon. So naturally, I like to fight. A lot. Secondly, I want the recognition and the fame it would bring from taking down the Underworlds current biggest threat." Falbium narrowed his eyes on Issei.

"So, no chivalry? All for selfish gain? Only thinking for yourself, and not for the protection of the rest of the Underworld." Issei's facial expression didn't change, he just continued staring into Falbium's eyes, just like he had this whole meeting.

"Does it matter if I do it for selfish desires? After all, devils are by nature, selfish and greedy beings. There is nothing wrong with embracing my devil side, is there?" For the first time since Issei saw Falbium, Falbium's frown faded and turned into a slight smirk.

"That we are. Okay, I agree with your proposition. I hereby grant you permission to pursue the Khaos Brigade, and also temporarily relieve you from your duties to your current master, Rias Gremory. The only thing I ask in return is that you don't do anything that would negatively affect the Underworld, or the reputation of the Mauos."

Issei nodded and Falbium pulled out a communication circle paper similar to the one he had for Serafall, but instead with the Glasya-Labolas crest. "I'd also like you to inform me periodically about your progress." Issei nodded in response.

"So, just so I have confirmation. As long as it won't directly affect the Underworld negatively, or the mauo's reputation, I have full jurisdiction to do what I see necessary?" Falbium narrowed his eyes, feeling an undertone to Issei's question, but nodded in the end.

"Yes, as long as the Underworld or mauo's are affected negatively, you can do whatever you see fit." If Issei wasn't good at keeping his true emotions in check, he would have had a massive smirk on his face. 'Oh, this will be fun.' Issei thought to himself.

Issei stood up, pushing the chair back in the process. "Okay. That will be all, it was a pleasure to meet the current Asmodeus. Have a nice day." Issei waited for Falbium's response, but only got a nod in reply. Taking that as better than nothing, he turned around and left the room.

When he opened the doors, the maid from before was standing there, waiting for him. He closed the doors and walked to her. "How did your meeting go?" She asked out of courtesy. "It went well." The maid nodded and teleported him back to the ORC.

When he arrived at the ORC , he was met by a very pissed off Rias Gremory. "Issei! Where the hell did you go! I am your master! You are to tell me everything you do from now on!" Issei turned and looked at Rias with the strange glint in his eyes.

"I do not owe you an explanation of anything I do." Rias looked like she was about to interrupt him, but he cut her off. "Also, you are not my master. As of 10 minutes ago, I was temporarily relieved of my servant ship of you." Everyone looked at him shocked beyond all belief.

"WHAT!? Why would you do that?! Do you not like me being your master?! I have treated you with nothing but kindness!" Rias shouted at Issei. Issei on his part, didn't flinch. "I agree that you have not been a bad master, nor have you treated me badly in any way. But, being in servitude to you is boring."

Everyone couldn't believe what they were hearing but didn't get the chance to voice their opinions because Issei kept talking. "Besides, I'm around 70% dragon now. And if you didn't know, dragons only bow to people superior to them. Why would I bow to someone tens of times weaker than I am?" At this point, the maid from the Sitri house had already left, and everyone else was left in shock.

Seeing that no one was going to say anything he turned around and started to leave. "Wait!" Issei heard someone shout. He turned around to see Xenovia walking towards him. "What are you going to do now that you're no longer a part of Rias' peerage?"

He took a quick glance around the room. "I just got back from a meeting with Falbium Asmodeus. He granted me permission to pursue and destroy the Khaos brigade." For most people in the room, they didn't even hear him, too shocked at the fact that Issei was temporarily leaving Rias' peerage.

Issei shifted his attention to someone else in the room. "Koneko. I need your help with something, come with me." Koneko looked like she wanted to protest but reluctantly nodded and walked over to his side. "I'm not joining you if this is what this is about." Issei waved off her worries and walked out, followed by Koneko.

When they got outside the ORC, Issei stopped. "Alright Koneko, release your chi. I want to talk to Kuroka." Koneko looked at him with wide eyes, but a glare from him made her relent and release some of her chi.

Not even 3 seconds later, a Senjutsu teleportation circle appeared in front of Koneko and Issei. "What do you want babe? Finally decided to join me and the Khaos Brigade." The voice of Kuroka came but she froze when she saw Issei.

"What the hell do you want?" Issei looked at her with an impassive face. "Vali, come out. If you don't I'm going to kill this cat." Just as he said that, he appeared a foot in front of Kuroka with a sword pointed at her heart. Kuroka started to sweat, and Vali and his team came out not even 5 seconds later.

"What do you want eternal rival?" Vali said, casting a glare to Issei. "I want to speak to Vali, everybody else leaves. You too Koneko." Koneko didn't need to be told twice and she left. Vali's team however did not want to leave.

Bikou was the one to voice his disagreement, stepping forward. "And why would we listen to you? Do you really think you can take us all on?" Bikou said with an arrogant smirk. It fell however, when Vali spoke.

"Bikou, if he wanted, he could have killed us all already. Now leave." Vali sent Bikou a glare, and reluctantly, Vali's team left. Once it was only Vali and Issei, Issei sheathed his sword. "Alright, red dragon. What do you want from me."

Issei looked back to where Vali's team was once standing. "Your team, they follow you wherever you go?" Vali nodded. "If I had to guess, your team doesn't follow the ideas of the Khaos Brigade. In fact, I'm guessing that Kuroka only joined to for protection, Arthur as well, but for his little sister Le Fay, and Bikou and you both joined to fight strong opponents."

Vali nodded, confused at what he was getting at. "What's your angle? What's the point of all this?" Issei's expression changed to a serious one. "I have a proposal. Earlier today, I was granted permission from the mauos to hunt down and destroy the Khaos brigade." Vali froze and started to sweat nervously.

"They told me I could do anything I saw fit, as long as it didn't negatively affect the Underworld or the mauos reputation." Issei took a pause. "So, my proposition, is for you and your team to join me." Vali looked at him shocked.

"And why would we do that? What would you have to offer that the Khaos brigade doesn't?" Issei smirked and chuckled a little bit.

"Well, as I said before, I have permission to do anything I see fit. So, here's my offer. If you join me, everyone in your team, will be pardoned of all their crimes involving the Underworld. Meaning you would all have the protection of the Underworld, Kuroka would finally be able to return and possibly fix her relationship with her sister. Instead of fighting the Underworld, you would fight the Khaos Brigade, including Ophis." Vali looked at him like he was crazy.

"Are you insane?! You're going to try and fight Ophis?!" Issei shrugged. "Not right now. But eventually. On top of all that, you'll get to train with me. Of course, there are some things I want out of this as well." Issei took another pause. "You see, I'm fighting the Khaos brigade for two reasons, and two reasons only. The first one, is because I want to fight strong opponents. The seconds is for the recognition and fame that comes with taking down the Underworld biggest enemy at the moment."

"Afterwards, I can almost guarantee I'll be promoted to a High-class devil. I'm sure you know what that entails. What I want, is for you, and Kuroka to consider becoming a part of my peerage once this is over. However, the choice is up to you of course."

Vali looked at him, suspicious of the things he said. "And you're sure you can do this? Are you positive you can pardon us of all our crimes?" Issei nodded in response.

"Why wouldn't I? I can do whatever I see fit, as long as it doesn't negatively affect the underworld. I would be gaining a descend of Lucifer, one of the last two nekoshou, a descent of Sun Wukong, and two banished members of the royal house of Pen Dragon, as allies. If anything, I'm doing the underworld a huge favor. Of course, I wouldn't be able to pardon you until the Khaos Brigade is dealt with though."

Vali looked over to where his team once stood. "You guys can come back out now. I know you've been listening to this whole time." Issei called, looking at the same place Vali is. Vali's team then came back to the area, a look a suspicion on their faces.

"You're not lying, are you? Would I really have a chance to fix my relationship with Shirone?" Kuroka said hopefully. Issei nodded in response. "I can give you the chance. But whether you fix your relationship or not with her is up to Koneko." Kuroka's face morphed into one of pure hope. "Then, I'm with you." Kuroka said with conviction.

"And you could provide protection and a safe place for my sister?" Arthur's voice came next. Issei nodded in response. "Yes, it's to my understanding that your family banished you both, and don't care what happens to you. So, I don't see a reason why I can't provide her the protection you want." Arthur nodded. "Then I'm with you as well."

"Fighting the Khaos brigade? Now that sounds like fun. I've wanted to kill that Cao Cao douchebag forever. Count me in." Bikou said. Vali sighed in defeat. "Well, if all of my team agrees to join you, then I guess I have no choice."

Issei let a small grin appear on his face. "Good, that's good. If you would have disagreed, I would have killed you all." Issei said with a sickly-sweet smile that unsettled them all. "Now go back to what you were doing. Act as if this never took place. When I need you all, I will contact you." Issei said, turning around and walking off.

The Vali group all looked at Issei with frowns. They didn't trust him. It also made them uneasy that he so casually talked about killing them. "He better holds out on his deal." Kuroka said, getting nods from everyone present.

They all then went back to where they came from, hoping this wouldn't turn sour and that they wouldn't regret their decision.

* * *

With Issei, he was walking to a place he had once visited before. With all that was going on, he needed a place to set up a base. His house wouldn't work as all the girls were there, and they would all just pester him about what he was doing, why he did it, and that he needed to come back.

Issei arrived at the destination he had in mind, which was the abandoned building that they fought the stray devil Viser in. He walked inside to be greeted by the blood stains and wreckage all around the building from the time they found Viser.

"Well, this place needs some work. But first…" Issei said, approaching the middle of the room, moving the rubble of the destroyed pillars away from it before holding out both arms and started casting a spell.

Minutes later, the spell was done, a magic circle glowing crimson in the middle of the room before disappearing, becoming transparent. In several of the many books he read, he read several books about seals and barriers.

What he just made was a barrier that would completely hide all traces of magic inside the barrier, alert him to anyone entering the barrier without permission, destroy any and all video and audio recording devices currently in the abandoned building, as well as destroy all that could possibly be put in here in the future, make it impossible to teleport into the building magically without permission, and also shield them from outside attacks up to the extent of Rias' full powered power of destruction.

The barrier wasn't very strong, but if he was to boost it in times of need, it would do just fine. The barrier itself was more to protect against surprise attacks and alert of him of intruders and prevent people from finding his base of operations.

Issei stood up, looking around the room. He had a lot of work to do, there were rubble and blood everywhere. Releasing a groan of annoyance, he started to get to work with cleaning up the entire building.

Six hours later, all the rubble was cleared from the building as well as the blood. The inside didn't look extravagant, but at least it wasn't a complete mess anymore. The outside however, looked like it had been through hell and needed repairs. He would leave the outside how it is for now however.

"I'm going to need money to buy the stuff I need." Issei said offhandedly, thinking of possible ways to make money.

For one, he could use the funds he knew Rias was keeping in an underworld bank account from his contracts without telling him.

Secondly, he could ask Falbium for the money. But he didn't want to be in debt to the mauo.

Third, and an option he wasn't completely against, he could rob a human bank. But then again, maybe that wasn't the best option.

In the end, he decided to go the route of using his devil powers to influence a rather successful human businessman and 'convince' him to become a business partner with him. It would probably be the best way, and it would help him establish connections to the more influential humans, which could pose useful.

However, he didn't want to do business with people from his Japan. He wanted to do business with someone offshore. This to dodge the human police, media, and several other annoyances.

So, the next day he used a transportation circle and arrived in Dubai. One of the richest cities in the United Arab Umpires, one of the most oil heavy countries on Earth. And the oil business was something he could defiantly get into.

Last night during his research, he found a man who was ranked as one of the most successful oil miner business owners in all of the United Arab Umpires, who just so happened to be spending a vacation in Dubai name Dhaki al-Salih.

Issei stood outside of a rather tall hotel, 42 floors in total. Dhaki al-Salih was currently in the hotel, on floor 42, staying in one of the two rooms on that floor. Normally, it would be impossible to even get in the hotel without being a multi-millionaire, let alone get on the most expensive floor in the hotel.

Issei however, he just flew up to floor 42 with his devil wings. Once on the level of floor 42, he landed on the balcony of the floor. Why someone would want a balcony while so high up was beyond him, but that didn't matter as Dhaki al-Salih was currently sunbathing on the roof with two guards by the door.

Issei retracted his wings and walked towards Dhaki al-Salih. Dhaki heard the footsteps approaching him and opened his eyes and looked at Issei. "Who are you?" Dhaki spat out, seeing a teenager with black hair with several strands of brown looking at him.

Issei smirked as his eyes started to glow red, indicating he was starting to use his devil powers to manipulate Dhaki. "Me? I'm your new business partner, Issei Hyoudou. It's nice to meet you." Issei said, extending his hand.

Dhaki's eyes where glossed but he nodded absently and shook Issei's hand. "Yes, how could I be so careless to forget. My apologies." Dhaki said, his eyes still glossed as the magic did its work, manipulating his memories into thinking that he and Issei had been conversing about becoming business partners for months.

"No need. I look forward to doing business with you." Issei said with a large smirk, knowing his magic had worked and he now had a steady source of money. "Now, let's discuss our partnership." Issei said, sitting down in the seat next to him.

* * *

A week later we find Issei inside of the abandoned building once again, however this time the inside was much different. Unlike before where the only light coming from the place was from some of the holes in the ceiling and the walls, which were now patched, lights strip lit up the whole place from the ceiling.

The once one-room abandoned building had now been turned into multiple rooms. When you walked into the building you walked into a living room with a decent sized kitchen off to the right. The living room had a large red rug covering the mast majority of it.

A black leather 4 person couch on the back of the rug with two black leather reclining chairs to the right and left respectively. A glass coffee table with black metal outlining in the middle of the furniture.

Facing the couch, a large TV on a brown tv stand with two speakers to the side for the sound. On the TV stand where many things such as books, video games and systems, and the TV and console remotes.

Behind the living area was the kitchen, having a white and black color scheme. A half-wall separated the living room from the dining room with one entrance into it. The floors a white squared tile with grey lining, the walls a dark grey.

In the middle of the kitchen was a large island, the bottom of it white with black granite countertops. On the back, closest to the living room was chairs for people to sit at the island and eat at. On the front, the furthest from the living room, was a large and deep double sink.

On the wall furthest from the living room stood most of the appliances. The grey oven, large grey refrigerator and freezer, and the white counters with black granite countertops. Above the appliances having white cabinets.

On the wall to the left a walk-in pantry, storing all the food and spices in the kitchen that weren't in the fridge or freezer, while on the left side was a large counter space too with a black microwave and coffee maker on top of it.

From there if you kept walking forward, past the living room and kitchen there were 3 doors. One on the left, another on the right, and one right straight ahead.

In the room to the left was a living area which housed the basic necessities. A bed, dresser, closet, and appliances such as a TV. The room having its own bathroom which contained a large shower/bath duo, a double sink and large mirror, and a toilet.

In the room to the right was a training room having specially modified work out equipment. The equipment looked normal except they had magical enhancements to where the more magic you put into the seals on the weights, the heavier they get, going up to 10,000 pounds.

Finally, in the final room was what Issei called the meeting room. The meeting room would be where him, the Vali team, and anyone else he decided to recruit along the way would hold discussions and meetings.

The room had a long rectangle table in it, easily sitting at the least 24 people to the far left, on the back wall were large tv screens all over the place, each broadcasting multiple different things such as news stations, surveillance feeds, and idle screens.

A command module with a single monitor below it, just far enough away so the person sitting in the chair can see all the large screens on the walls. The command module controlled everything in the building such as the barrier Issei set up, the power to the building, the tv screens on the wall, it could even flush the toilet in the living quarters.

To the right was a stairway up to the newly made second floor. Since the ceilings were high enough Issei had a second floor built to the building. On the second floor was all the things like guest rooms, bathrooms, a large library, and the like.

Issei let out a sigh of relief sitting down in the chair in front of the command module in the meeting room of what would now be his base of operations. "Took a long time, and required a lot of devils to be hired, but it's finally finished." Issei said, closing his eyes.

Now that his base of operations was complete, he could start on his next step to hunting for the Khaos Brigade. But first, he needed more information. Sure, he might be more educated than the average high-class devil, but he wanted more than that.

As some belief, including Issei, knowledge is power. Without the knowledge of the enemy your facing, the strength of their followers, their abilities, their assets, their goals, then you would always lose the war. And that wasn't something that Issei could let happen.

Luckily for him, he had already made arrangements for the second stage of his plan, and that would be getting the knowledge he needed. Issei stood up and went to the front door of his base of operations when he saw the man that he had been waiting for to arrive through the surveillance feed from the outside of the building.

Although there wasn't a single audio or video recording device inside of the base of operations, the outside was very much different. There were magic circles that recorded the outside of his base all over the outside. In total, there was 64. Each one's recording being broadcasted on one of the tv screens in the meeting room.

He reached the front door and opened, revealing a red and blue haired man with heterochromia eyes. His left eye is blue, and the right being red. This was Mephisto Pheles, the leader of the magicians, and the most knowledgeable devil in existence.

"Mephisto Pheles, it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." Issei said, extending his hand, which was met in a firm handshake.

"Please, the honor is all mine. Meeting the one believed to be the strongest Boosted Gear holder is quite the honor." Mephisto said, giving Issei a smile that would charm a good bit of the female populist.

Issei chuckled at the comment. "Is that what they consider me? Well, I guess it wouldn't be too farfetched." Issei said, showing some of the arrogance he gained from being turned into a half-dragon, now an almost full-blooded dragon.

"Please, come in. We have much to discuss." Issei said, moving to allow room for Mephisto to come in. Mephisto nodded and walked in, Issei shutting the door behind him.

"A nice place you have here. It had a very home-like feeling." Mephisto complimented. Issei smiled and started walking to the meeting room.

"Thank you. Now, this way, we will talk in my meeting room." Issei said, Mephisto following him with Issei's brain processed several things as he walked. The first, was that Mephisto was far stronger than he led people to believe. The seconds being the resemblance he had with Ajuka Beelzebub.

Issei arrived at the meeting room door and opened it to let him in. Mephisto thanked Issei before moving on into the room, Issei following suit, closing the door behind him.

"Quite the setup you got here," Mephisto said, indicating to all the monitors on the wall and the 64 security footage feeds. "Could be better though." Mephisto commented, to which Issei ignored.

"It serves its purpose. This room is more used for meetings, the security feeds are just a precaution. Now sit down, we have much to discuss." Issei said, walking over to the large table on the left side of the room and sitting in one of the seats.

Mephisto followed, sitting in the seat directly across from Issei. "I must admit, I was surprised when I got a call from Falbium Asmodeus saying that Issei Hyoudou, the Red Dragon Emperor, wanted to talk with me. I didn't know you were so well connected." Issei mentally frowned at Mephisto but kept his poker face.

Mephisto was smart, after all, he was known as the most knowledgeable devil in existence for a reason. But another reason he was smart was that of his knowledge in not just book smarts, but what was also happing in not just the underworld, but all of the pantheons.

Right now, Mephisto was showing just how he got a lot of that information. To most, they wouldn't have thought much about that comment and would have played it off as him just making conversation. But he was really trying to see how Issei had contacts with Falbium Asmodeus, a Mauo.

"I'm a simple guy, so let's keep this simple and cut to the chase. You're the most knowledge devil, possibly even person, in all the pantheons. And I want information. What do I need to do to get the information I want?" Issei said, his poker face not showing any signs of emotion.

Mephisto chuckled at Issei. "Very well, straight to the point. The answer to your question depends on the information. Obviously, the more valuable the information, the costlier the information is." Mephisto said, and Issei nodded.

"The information I want is the power rankings. I want to know who the strongest people in not just the people in our pantheon, but all pantheons. And not just current, also dead or believed dead." Issei said, and Mephisto nodded.

"I can do that. It won't but too expensive, but at the same time it won't be cheap. Is that all?" Mephisto asked and Issei shook his head in the negative. "Let's hear it then. What else do you want?" Mephisto asked.

"What I want, I'm sure isn't written in any book. And I'm also sure that you're the only one who will be willing and able to give me the answer. What I want to know is about God. I've always wondered, how the being who not only created the humans, but also us devils, and have the power to seal away two heavenly dragons, was somehow killed by the original four Satan's. I want to know how he really died." Issei said, shocking Mephisto.

Mephisto narrowed his eyes and his demonic power started to seep out. "I don't know what you're talking about, God was killed by the Four Satans. Even if he wasn't and I had information like that, It would cost a heavy amount." Mephisto said, Issei picking up on the hint he gave him.

"Hmm, I see. So, if he wasn't killed by the Satans, it would take something like say, some dark secrets one of the mauo's don't want people to know. One that they couldn't let anybody know. Even the other mauo's?" Issei said, and Mephisto didn't look fazed in the bit.

"If this is how Sirzechs treats not only his family, but the things he has done, then save it. I already know everything there is to know." Mephisto said, and Issei just shook his head.

"No, it does involve Sirzechs yes, but it's not about that. Rather, it's the reason why he treats people like that. Why he's done the things he's done. The thing that made him act like that." Issei said, and Mephisto narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything, basically telling Issei to continue.

"Have you ever wondered why he does what he does?" Issei asked, and Mephisto again didn't do anything. "The answer is fear. You see, Sirzechs has been hiding something from everyone he knows for a very, very, long time. Something that I accidentally found out while I was staying at the Gremory mansion."

"Please, do tell. And if I see the information valuable enough, I may just tell you what really happened to God." Mephisto said, smirking.

"Okay, it all started with a book…" Issei said, going on to explain a very long story that will not be revealed at this moment for plot purposes. And yes, I did just break the 4th wall. Deal with it.


	13. Preparations

**Hi, it's been a very long time since I updated this. Sorry about that. I have several things planned out for the story, such as major events and even the ending, I just have trouble building up to those points. So sorry, for the very slow update. I will try and put them out quickly but don't expect updates every week. Also, keep in mind that I'm in the process of writing multiple stories, so the updates probably won't be as fast as you hope.**

* * *

Issei stood on the edge of a cliff, watching as hundreds of reapers bellow him went on with their day to day lives while he thought back to the secret, he revealed to Mephisto. Afterword's, Mephisto had confirmed his theory of God not being killed by the Four Satans, but rather the Beast of Apocalypse, Trihexa.

The news wasn't shocking to Issei, after reading all the books in the Gremory mansion, he had read several books that told of the myth that was the Beast of Apocalypse. The only other being in existence to be on equal terms in power to Great Red and Ophis.

He knew that Trihexa played a big role in the future. But what only a matter of 3 people knew, those people being Sirzechs, Mephisto, and himself, was that Trihexa is the sole thing keeping them alive.

Without Trihexa sealed, something no one, even if unknowingly, didn't want to happen. However, he knew that someone was working to unseal him. Thus, leading to why he was currently in the realm of the dead.

There was something that he wanted, and he was going to take. The question was, how? The thing he wanted, was one of, if not _the most_ heavily guarded thing in Hade's possession.

Issei released a sigh of frustration. This was not going to be easy. Issei grabbed the hood of the black cloak that concealed his whole body over his head, before pulling out a mask from within the cloak. The mask was a replica of Sirzechs' face, much to his amusement.

The mask concealed all his defining features, and the cloak concealing everything else. What the mask was didn't matter in all honesty, but he thought it would be funny when Hades got the news that someone broke into the 7 rings of hell wearing a Sirzechs mask.

Issei's eyes gained their gleam, turning around and spreading his arms out, resembling a cross. Slowly, he let his body fall back and off the cliff, relishing the feel and the sound of his cloak flapping in the wind as he fell hundreds of meters.

Just as he was around 10 meters from becoming a splat on the ground, as if sensing it, he quickly adjusted his body, flipping and landing on the ground feet first in a loud crash, a large crater forming in the middle of the city he landed. Dust kicking up, obscuring everyone's vision of what just happened.

In an instant, hundreds of Hades' reapers were gathered around the scene, scythes at the ready to kill the person inside of the massive dust cloud.

Issei, while still in the dust cloud reached into his cloak, pulling two blue straight bladed machetes out, each one's blade 45 centimeters long, waiting for the dust cloud to settle and for the massacre to begin.

Issei was sure that Hades had already received news though of someone landing in the most populated place in the seven rings of hell, and he needed to make this quick. Currently, he was on the sixth ring. He needed to get down to the seventh, Cocytus, to get what he wanted.

It took a total of five minutes for the dust cloud to settle, revealing Issei in his cloak and Sirzechs mask, holding the two machetes, ready for battle.

It didn't take long for the reapers to act. Dozens of them from all sides leaping into action, intent on killing the intruder. Issei took note of his surroundings, watching in slow motion as the reapers neared closer and closer to him.

When they were mere inches for stabbing him with the pointed end of their scythes, which he knew was a guaranteed death to anyone, no matter how strong you are, he flipped backward, and over the fastest reapers, that apparent by how they were the first to get close to him.

The reapers that were inches from killing him were shocked by him dodging so narrowly and didn't have the time to course, causing them to not have enough time to stop themselves, and multiple of them stabbing one another, killing their comrades by accident.

By the end of the incident, to what seemed like a blink of an eye to a handful of the reapers, 17 of their higher classed reapers had been killed, and Issei had landed in front of the lower-class reapers. The period in which he flipped away from the reapers, the reapers killing one another and his landing happened within half a second. Much too fast for most of the reapers there to comprehend.

However, that didn't deter them any in their job as the reapers Issei landed in front of swung their scythes at him, this time being much more cautious as to not kill their comrades by accident.

The reapers that survived the incident where 17 of their comrades were killed by their own already back on the move and charging at Issei. The rest of the reapers there in tow, all closing in on Issei's location. Issei watched them all move in slow motion with a smirk under the mask.

'Everything's going according to plan. By my rough estimate, in 30 seconds the low-class reapers will be here for backup, and in another 45 seconds after that, the mid and high-class reapers will be here. That should be enough time, this plan may work.'

For the next thirty seconds the reapers tried and tried to kill Issei, but much to their surprise and confusion, Issei dodged every attack, no matter from where nimbly and narrowly. But what surprised them the most, was that he hadn't dished out any attacks. Hell, he hadn't even used his blades to block even a single one of theirs yet.

However, just according to Issei's estimate, the low-class reapers arrived as the backup to deal with the threat, and the same thing as before started to happen. The reapers tried and tried, but no matter what they did, they just could not land a hit on him, much to their frustration.

Three minutes later, and everything was still the same as before. The mid and high-class reapers arrived two minutes ago, but it didn't help at all. If anything, it got worse. With so many reapers targeting the same person, at the same time, they all started to accidentally injure and kill one another.

But now, it was different, as the reaper Issei had been waiting to arrive had finally arrived. Pluto, the legendary Ultimate-class reaper. All the other reapers also took notice of Pluto and all backed away from Issei, knowing they would only get in Pluto's way if they continued to fight.

"So, you finally arrive. About time. I was getting tired of constantly dodging." Issei said, to which was ignored by Pluto, and in a show of his extraordinary speed, charged at Issei with after images being behind him as he charged.

Issei tracked his movements, just barely being able to keep up with his enormous speeds. After all, Pluto was known as one of the fastest being in all the Pantheons. Within a blink of the eye, Pluto was in front of Issei, scythe swinging, aimed to behead Issei.

Issei narrowly dodged the scythe, leaning just far enough back to not get cut of beheaded by the blade. Pluto followed up with a quick hand switch and spin of the scythe, the scythe now aimed and swing down, aimed to stab Issei with the end of the scythe.

Issei jumped back to dodge the slice, Pluto not giving Issei the breathing room he wanted, sped forward in what seemed like light speed, upon Issei while he was still in the air, his scythe already swinging to cleave Issei in half.

The other reapers watched as Issei one of his machetes, aimed to block the scythe, however, all the reaper's non-existent eyes, including Pluto's, widened when they saw the scythe phase though Issei machete, and then going on to phase through Issei's body as well.

Issei smirked under his mask, knowing his plan had played out perfectly. 'The other reaper's where to focus on trying to hit me to notice that they were fighting an illusion the whole time. With most of the reapers currently here, trying to kill me, the real me has invaded the Realm of the Dead, and enter Cocytus. Mission success.' Issei thought the illusion that had been fighting the reapers for the past 3 minutes and a half disappearing into the air.

 **"Warn Hades! An intruder has invaded our realm. We cannot let this person getaway."** Pluto's distorted voice spoke to the reapers, a number of them dashing off the warn Hades while the rest of them started the search for the intruder.

With the real Issei, while the Illusion Issei had just been found out by Pluto, the real Issei had already found what he was looking for in Cocytus. Or rather, _who_ he was looking for.

* * *

Before Issei was a man, or rather what used to be man, crucified on a cross with the nail in his hand and feet, as well as the several seals binding him to the cross. The man had the upper body of a fallen angel, yet the lower body of an Asian dragon. A blindfold was over his eyes, tears of blood dripping from it.

 **"Who's there?"** The man's distorted voice spoke out to Issei, the man having heard Issei approach. Issei stopped and stared at the man, standing a few feet from him.

"My name is not of importance. What is, is you." Issei said, approaching the man.

 **"What are you going to do? Try and get information? Try and harness my power? Don't tell me, you're here to save me? Sorry kid, but I'll pass. The only thing I could ever want from you is for you to kill me."** The man said, and Issei snorted.

"Well, isn't that a good thing then. As it just so happens, you will be dying today, Samael." Issei said as the man's eyes under the blindfold widened. Not about Issei knowing his name, but rather that Issei said he was going to die today.

 **"Are you serious? You're going to kill me?"** Samael asked with barely contained hope. Issei hmmed, pulling out a blood transfusion kit.

"Yes. Well, indirectly that is. You see, a threat is coming to the world, and I need to be stronger to do that. There are multiple ways to get stronger, but I'm going to do an unorthodox approach. Since your blood is rumored to be strong enough to kill even Ophis and Great Red, I want to test that theory. And of course, if your blood as it is isn't strong enough to kill them, there are ways to make it stronger." Issei said, pulling out a blood transfusion kit from his pocket dimension.

 **"I see how it is, you just want my blood for power. You're no different than all the rest of your kind. You devil only care about yourselves, and don't care what has to happen to attain whatever you desire."** Samuel said with a heavy amount of hate laced in his voice.

Issei looked at Samuel with an impassive face, connecting one side of the blood transfusion needle to a blood bag. "You may be right, you might not be. But what does it matter to you? Yes, I do want your power, but what my desire to do with it, is probably not what you expect. Whether or not you consider it selfish, or a bad reason is up to you. Either way, I don't care. I don't care what it costs to make sure my desire is accomplished. The only thing that matters to me is that it is accomplished."

 **"Oh, and what would this selfless desire be?"** Samuel mocked Issei, meanwhile, Issei had finished the preparation for the blood transfusion and stabbed the other side of the blood transfusion kit into one of the several pulsing veins that Samuel had.

"Well, due to your healing factor, I guess I have time to explain to you what it is. Are you sure you want my desire to be the last thing you hear though?" Issei asked, pointing out the fact to Samuel that he _was_ going to die today. Every last drop of his blood was going to be drained from him and used to accomplish this _devil's_ desire.

 **"Well, whatever it is, it involves my blood. Of course, I want to know what it is."** Samuel said, his entire voice full of hatred for Issei.

"Well, let's just say that there is a group arising, causing chaos within the entire biblical pantheon. The group itself, I'm not worried about. They only have one person that poses a threat to me, and that person doesn't give two fucks about chaos. All they care about is having their silence. It's the beast the group is trying to awaken that has me worried." Issei explained.

 **"Oh, and what is the big bad devil so scared of?"** Samuel mocked, enjoying the chance to mock Issei. His mockery fell short however when Issei muttered his next words.

"Trihexa. That's who I'm scared of." Noting the facial expression of Samuel morph into one of pure fear, Issei knew that Samuel knew exactly who Trihexa is. "Judging by your facial expression, you know who Trihexa is, and what it can do."

Issei's answer was a nod. "Well, I don't know how, but what I do know is that they are trying to free Trihexa from its prison. I cannot let that happen. My desire that you think is so selfish, has nothing to do with greed or anything of the like. The only thing I care about is the people I love. And if Trihexa gets out of its prison, everyone I've ever known or love _will_ die. I can't let that happen."

 **"I see. You want my blood to kill Ophis. Judging by your explanation of the only being that threatens you in this group trying to awaken Trihexa, it's Ophis. Considering Ophis is a dragon, my blood is the only chance you have to kill her. If you kill Ophis, then the Underworld will have no worries about this group, and it will be eliminated quickly. Am I correct in my assumptions?"** Samuel asked.

Issei nodded his agreement, even though Samuel couldn't see it, but knew that Samuel would take his silence as a yes. "Yes, that is what I want your blood for. The only thing is, I've only told you one of the _two_ threats that I'm scared of. Not even the group trying to awaken Trihexa knows of the second threat." Issei said, his face completely serious.

 **"I don't understand. What else is as strong as Trihexa besides Ophis and Big Red?"** Samuel asked, confused by Naruto's statement.

"You were close to God at one time. You knew how strong he was. Since you know that, you also know that God had more than enough power to _kill_ Trihexa, not just seal him away. He sealed away Trihexa for a reason, only telling one person the reason before he died. The person God entrusted to tell everyone of the reason why he sealed Trihexa died before he could tell everyone." Issei said.

 **"If this person died, how do you know of this threat?"** Samuel asked, even if he was going to die, he felt a need to know this information.

"That's simple. Along the way to tell everyone of this threat, he told an old Greek man who had crossed his path. This Greek man wrote the story in a book but never showed it to anyone. Instead, it just sat in his house for hundreds of years, until one day a passing devil found his house centuries after the Greek man had died. He found the book, read it, and figured that the threat written in the book was too great to ignore. Since then, that devil has been obsessed with trying to make the Underworld stronger, by any means necessary." Issei explained.

 **"That still doesn't answer the question of how _you_ know," **Samuel stated.

"I know because I read the same book. I recently had stayed at that devil's mansion. While reading books in his library, I found the book. It took a while for me to translate it, but I did. That's why I'm taking these actions. Because the _only thing_ , stopping this threat from killing us all, is Trihexa. As I said, God sealed Trihexa instead of killing it for a reason."

"That reason is that Trihexa acts as a camouflage to the threat. While Trihexa is in its sealed state, we are invisible to the threat. But the _instant_ Trihexa is unsealed, it will find us. And it will come for us. That's why I need to take down this group before they unseal Trihexa." Issei said Samuel, starting to feel severely weak due to how much blood had been taken from him. This whole time, Issei had been replacing the blood bag with a new one every time the previous one was full. He was already up to several dozen liters of blood.

 **"Then who is this threat? What are they?"** Samuel asked, desperate to know even though he was about to die.

"Sorry, but your time is already up," Issei said, pulling the needle out of Samuel's vein, and pulling out a dagger from behind him. Using said dagger, he severed Samuel's carotid artery. Even with Samuel's healing factor, he would die.

Issei jumped back quickly after severing the artery, knowing whatever blood Samuel had left in him would squirt out like a fountain. Being mainly dragon, even a single drop of that blood would kill him.

Issei looked at Samuel's dead form, crucified to the cross just like Jesus was. This was the first time he had ever taken someone's life, and it wasn't even a necessary kill. It wasn't like he had no choice, or that he did it in self-defense of him or someone he cared for. It was a cold-blooded murder.

Issei looked down at the ground, struggling to keep his emotions in check. Even with all the training, he had done, both mentally and physically, his mind still struggled to cope with the fact that he had killed someone in cold blood. Just for the simple fact that if Samuel was allowed to live, he could repeat what Issei had told him to someone else.

So, it wasn't like one of those times you hear about someone snooping around and learns of something they shouldn't have, and you have to put them down to keep their mouth shut. No, Issei _gave_ Samuel the information and then killed him for having the information.

However, Issei did take comfort in the fact that even if he didn't tell Samuel that information, he still would have had to kill him. Either way, Samuel would have figured out he was a devil, and if Hades found that out bad things would come to devil kind.

Issei looked at Samuel's body with pity. The fate Samuel had suffered for the last centuries was far worse than death, and even though Issei knew Samuel _wanted_ Issei to end his suffering, this was still something Issei would never get used to.

At least, that was what he hoped. The day he got used to taking a life, is the day he would no longer be able to recognize himself. Even with the cold exterior he put up around everyone nowadays, this was still something he didn't enjoy.

Sealing away the bags of blood he had extracted from Samuel, he decided it was time to leave. Summoning up a teleportation circle, he left, completely undetectable. Just to be safe however, he didn't teleport directly to his base of operations.

First, he teleported to Dubai and then hopped from plane to plane to cover his tracks. During this time, he just rested. Thinking of new ideas to implement into combat. The first being the idea of studying the creation of magic seals, he had several theories that he wanted to try and test out.

One of those ideas tying to his current pocket dimension he has been using to store stuff. At the moment, however, it wasn't very easy to pull things out. He had to focus on what it is he wanted first, focusing on the shape, color, and feel. Next, he had to focus on how many he wanted, and then finally he needed to decide where he wanted it to appear. All in all, it was a slow process, but he has gotten faster due to using it a lot considering he stored all his personal belongings in it.

What he was hoping to do, and at the moment this was just an idea, he didn't even know if it was possible, but he wanted to design an interface similar to a game's that he could call upon at any moment. The interface would be of an inventory, one you would likely see in an MMO, and then he wanted to connect that interface to his pocket dimension.

The theory being that if he could create the interface and have it successfully work, he would be able to connect it to his pocket dimension and from that point forward it would be just like an MMO's inventory at his constant beck and call with unlimited storage.

It would speed up the time in which he was able to pull out items because he would be able to summon it out of his inventory just by the items name, and he would be able to look over everything in his inventory, leaving less of a chance to forget items.

Of course, this was just one of the many theories he had now. There were hundreds he had come up with, considering that's all he could do while he flew for an accumulation of 17 hours.

Considering he had just infiltrated the 7 rings of hell; he didn't want to take any chance of the magical signature being traced back to him. That would cause way too many complications. So, he decided playing it safe would be best.

Issei marveled as he looked down at the city of Kyoto. This was his last plane stop, from here he would take the subway. As airplanes keep track of everyone that flies on their planes, there was a chance that someone would track him to here. Considering Kyoto was close enough to Kuoh, and a high traffic area for the supernatural, this was a good a spot as any.

From here he would just take the subway, a place that doesn't keep track of who goes on. He was sure that no one would be able to trace him now. He wouldn't have to do this secret spy stuff often, but he still knew how to cover his tracks.

When he finally arrived at his base of operation, he was dead tired. So, he hit the sack. He had things he needed to get done tomorrow.

* * *

The next day, Issei went to the devil library, checking out as many books as he could on the creation of magic circles, and went back to his base of operations to read them. He sat at a large table on the second floor and studied.

After 5 hours of reading, in which he took several breaks to keep his tension span up, he had finally found something that caught his eye.

In the creation of magic circles, devils would usually memorize the symbols for the seal, their superior minds to humans allowing them to memorize it much easier. However, what most of them didn't know was that the symbols were a language. A coding language.

Just like Binary Code, the language in which computer's read. A computer would look at the ones and zeros and be able to distinguish what its job was. Or like C++, in which you made lines of codes that would order something to commit a certain act.

All you had to do was learn the language, and the possibilities were endless. In which case his goal of creating a new way of storing things through an inventory system, it was possible theoretically. The only problem was that despite him being able to come up with ideas, he had no idea how to execute those ideas.

Which meant he would have to spend the next few weeks learning the language he needed to put his theories to the test. There was one theory he could test, however. In the books, it showed you some seals, allowing you to copy them. Some of those would be the weight seal, gravity seal, and the magic storage seal.

What his theory involved the magic storage seal, which if this world was a game, would be a massive game-breaking exploit. The thing was, he was one hundred percent certain that the theory would work, and he also knew that this would shake the supernatural world to the very core.

So, he transcribed the seal onto himself. What the seal would do, was it would store magic. Simple as that. However, it also showed in the book how you could connect it to your magical reserves. Once your magical reserves hit 99 percent capacity, all magic that the body produced would be sent straight into the seal.

The problem is that the seal was only so big, only able to hold up to mid-class reserves. So, as where it gave you a second magic reserve, it wasn't a very big one. Issei, however, could essentially hack the fucking system, and metaphorically inject steroids into the seal.

All this resolved around the boosted gears ability to double. Usually, when you boost something, it eventually wears off. The reason for this being that the magic either fades or the person or thing you boosted used all the magic.

The seal, however, is different. If he boosted seal, the seal absorbs the magic and acclimates it into its own. Meaning the boost was permanent. So, if you didn't know where this was going already, Issei could take the magic storage seal, fill it up to its max, and then infinitely boost it to give him limitless magic reserves.

Issei believed this was the real power of the boosted gear. Most users would only focus was boosting the physical attributes of themselves, making themselves stronger physically. That was the wrong way to use it.

The boosted gear was known as having the possibility of killing a god. Yet a user had never actually attained the power to do such a thing.

With this hack, however, it would be completely plausible. The reason for that being the juggernaut drive.

The juggernaut drive is the pinnacle of the boosted gear. The reason is that it completely removes the 10-second timer on boosting, allowing the user to boost an infinite amount of time. The only thing is, the more you boost, the more magic you use. Once the user runs out of magic, the juggernaut drive then uses its life force instead to boost.

That was the juggernaut drive's weakness. Whereas it was strong, the user could only stay in it for a couple of minutes at most.

Issei, however, had completely fixed this problem. He knows had unlimited magic. And even when he started to run low on magic while in the juggernaut drive, he could easily boost the seal he's using to hack the juggernaut drive hundreds of times in just a few seconds, each time the magic inside the seal, and the magic seal's capacity doubling in size.

This is why God had said that the boosted gear could kill a god. Because the boosted gear could be used to do things that defied logic. That was cheating. But all the users, up until now, were too arrogant, too confident in their abilities, to ever think about the possibility to apply it to things similar to this.

On top of this, there were several more ideas that most would consider cheating that Issei had. All he had to do was learn the language of the seals, and he would be able to do them all. For right now, all he had to do was to wait until the seal to fill up completely, then he would start to use the boosted gear to continuously double the seals magic capacity, as well as double the amount of magic inside the seal in one single use.

He now had a way to become stupidly strong, and all he had to do was sit on his ass and use an ability every ten seconds. And if he wanted to speed it up, he could transform into Juggernaut Drive and infinitely double the seal.

 **So, yea, I realize I'm making Issei stupidly strong. Don't worry though, although he looks like he's OP, it's all for a good reason. As I think this is what the boosted gear's possibilities are. So, in light of Issei becoming stupidly strong, you can expect some stupidly strong antagonists. The villains will be AU and will force Issei to the limits. So, although he's OP, he's still going to have plenty of struggles.**


	14. The First Step

A week later, and Issei had made a lot of progress in his efforts of learning the language of magic seals. It was a slow process, and he could have just done it in his mind if he wanted to, but he didn't have anything else to do. Not yet at least.

However, he did learn enough to make a new barrier around his base of operations. The barrier was just a simple barrier that would stop magical attacks. This way, someone couldn't just shoot the equivalent of a nuke but in the supernatural world and kill him. The reason that it wouldn't work because he had made the barrier dozens of times stronger with his boosted gear.

Usually, the magic would just wear off eventually, but Issei added in a magic absorption seal along with the barrier, which made the effects permanent. In fact, that was all he needed to do to make any affects permanent when it came to seals.

A magic absorption seal would absorb all the magic he sends into the seal, doubles its power, and then acclimate that new power into the seal permanently. It was a simple concept.

But for now, he had to make the first step in his plans. So, he called upon Kuroka to his base of operations. He repressed a smug smile when he got the confirmation of the alarm system working, sending him a signal that someone was teleporting into his base of operations.

Kuroka came out of that purple magic seal as normal, sensually walking out. "You called, nya?" Kuroka sensually called as she walked towards Issei, taking note of the place she was currently in.

"Yes, it's time we take the first step in my plans. Go get the others." Issei told her, which prompted them all to walk out of the purple seal. Issei watched as they all looked around in wonder. "Good, you're all here."

"And what would this place be," Vali asked, his usual delinquent attitude on display.

"This is my base of operations, and the place you will all live at once we reach that stage of the plan," Issei said.

"And this plan, are you ever going to share it with us?" Vali asked, annoyed to all hell.

Issei looked at Vali with a glare. "The plan is a need to know basis, and you don't need to know it," Issei said, pissing Vali off.

"Who do you think you are?! If you don't remember, we have no obligation to help you." Vali threatened.

Issei sat down at a table, crossing his arms under his chin. "Is that so? Very well, go then. I'm sure Ophis will appreciate you had thoughts of betraying her." Issei threatened right back.

Vali looked at Issei in pure rage but knew he couldn't do anything. If he left, Issei would let everyone know he and his group were planning to betray the Khaos Brigade. Which would result in them becoming enemies of the Khaos Brigade, which would leave them with no allies in the entirety of the supernatural world.

Issei had set himself up in a position where they had to work with him. Or else they would all be killed. By either himself or Ophis.

"Now, moving onwards, we are taking the first step. We are going to take a hit at the Khaos Brigade's strongest fighting forces. As I understand, the Khaos Brigade works in groups, just like yours. Your team Vali, second strongest team. We are going to hit Team Cao Cao, the strongest fighting force of the Khaos Brigade." Issei said.

"What?! Are you insane?! We can't just go and attack Cao Cao and his team! It will reveal ourselves as enemies of the Khaos Brigade." Kuroka yelled, scared at the implications of what would happen.

"No, it won't, because we won't be leaving any of them alive. If Cao Cao and his team are wiped out, then the number one spot becomes open. I want your team there." Issei said.

"You do realize who you're talking about, right? Your talking about Cao Cao, wielder of the True Longinus. You better have a good plan to take him down." Vali said, doubting Issei was going in this without a plan.

"I know who I'm talking about. I just need to know where they rest their head at night." Issei said.

Vali looked at him like he was crazy. Attacking them in their own territory? "You can't be serious," Vali stated plainly.

"I'm completely serious," Issei responded, his entire demeanor worry-free.

Vali released a sigh, figuring Issei wasn't going to let this go. "Luckily, the more major teams all stay in different places. Cao Cao and his team are currently staying in Kyoto. I can show you where." Vali said, all of his team members looking at him like he was crazy.

"Vali, you can't seriously be doing this," Arthur said worriedly. He knew they were no match for team Cao Cao. He was quieted however when Vali shot him a glare.

"Ok, then here's the plan."

* * *

A few days later and we find Issei standing on top of a tall building, nearly midnight, watching over the city of Kyoto. "Remember, don't step in till it's time. No matter how bad it looks." Issei said, all of team Vali nodding in reply.

"Alright, just stay here and conceal your signatures," Issei said, before suddenly jumping up high in the sky, twisting his body around and looking at a factory. The factory was just your average steel factory, except it had been sold around 2 months ago. This is were Cao Cao and his team were residing.

"Hopefully this will pick a few off," Issei muttered, his gauntlet appearing on his hand. Within an instant, every supernatural creature in Kyoto was on guard when a huge wave of magic struck over the whole city.

The source was one Issei Hyoudou, a red orb the size of several huge beach balls in front of his fist. He was so glad he had been constantly boosting that magic storage seal at the moment. The amount of magic put into this dragon shot was humongous. And he didn't even have to boost it, allowing him to just store them for a later time.

"Dragon Shot," Issei said as he punched the orb. The orb went flying towards the factory faster than a bullet, just a blur to everyone watching. The spectacle created when it touched the ground inside of the factory after breaking through a window was breathtaking, however.

The orb blew in an explosion with a diameter of approximately 30 feet. The explosion resulting in a quake reaching even all the way to Kuoh. Issei, however, knew, that although that explosion might have killed a few of Team Cao Cao, it didn't kill them all for sure.

Issei's feet touched the ground, landing around 10 meters in front of a group of four people. "What the hell is going on?" The man at the front, wielding a large spear yelled out. Issei presumed this to be Cao Cao.

"We've been attacked." A man with silver-white hair said plainly.

"I can see that Siegfried! Did we lose anyone?" Cao Cao spat at the Siegfried.

Issei studied them all. Issei had gotten a briefing from Vali of team Cao Cao and their abilities.

Cao Cao was the wielder of True Longinus, sad to be the strongest Longinus.

Siegfried, moniker The Demonic Sword Wielder, due to him wielding 6 demonic swords and 1 light. He had the ability to grow dragon arms.

Georg, wielder of the sacred gear Dimension Lost. A descendant of Johann Georg Faust, the man who made a pact with Mephisto Pheles.

Jeanne, sacred gear the same as one of Kiba's, Blade Blacksmith. She carries the spirit of the Maiden of Orleans, Joan of Arc.

Heracles, carrier of the spirit of the Greek mythological hero Heracles.

Finally, Leonardo. Wielder of one of the four strongest sacred gears, Annihilation Maker. Still just a child.

"Yes, sadly Heracles and Leonardo couldn't escape the blast radius in time. They were disintegrated." Siegfried replied to Cao Cao, yet to notice the assailant that had landed in front of them. A testament to how good his stealth abilities were. It, of course, helped that he was wearing all black and concealing his presence. Trying to see if he had killed anyone with that attack.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, he did. He knew he planned to kill every member of team Cao Cao, but he still didn't like it.

"Dammit! Whoever this is, I'm going to give them a slow painful death. It will take years to find Annihilation Maker again." Cao Cao said.

Figuring he had heard enough, he decided to step in. A blur shot in between Cao Cao and Siegfried. Cao Cao had just enough time to put up his spear, blocking it solely by instinct, before the blur was several meters behind them.

"Man, he's fast. Could even you see him, Siegfried?" Cao Cao asked, getting no answer. He looked to his side, trying to see why he wasn't answering, only to see Siegfried staring at him with horror.

"Siegfried?" Cao Cao asked again, only for Siegfried to fall to his knees, the instant his knees hit the ground a shockwave was sent through his body, forcing the until now unnoticed, severed head from Siegfried's body.

"I thought for sure that targeting you first would have been a waste of time, that you would have blocked it before I could take off your head. I guess in the end, I should have gone for you first, and him second. I guess your reputation proceeds you." The figure that had severed Siegfried's head.

Cao Cao shivered, the only reason he was alive was that this person had targeted Siegfried first. Cao Cao gulped. This person was dangerous. He just hoped the person had used some sort of ability to make him go that fast, and not that being his actual speed.

Cao Cao looked at the assailant. The man was wearing a pitch-black body cloak, a hood covering his hair. On his face was a black and red Kitsune mask, something Issei had bought at the Kyoto Shrine gift shop. He figured why not. It looked cool.

"W-Who are you?" Cao Cao asked hesitantly. Meanwhile, the other two members of team Cao Cao were shaking violently.

"Me? No one of importance." Issei said, before rushing forward, albeit much slower than before.

Cao Cao, seeing this, realized whatever attack Issei had used to make him so fast was something he couldn't continually use. So, he dashed forward as well.

Jeanne, seeing this, rushed forward along with Cao Cao.

Issei and Cao Cao met in the middle, sword locked with his spear, although it was obvious Issei was losing the bout of strength. Jeanne came rushing in from the side, rapier in her hand, poised to strike Issei through the side like a kebab.

Issei jumped back, but not quick enough, getting the rapier speared through his left arm at the elbow joint. Jeanne quickly pulled it back out, however, not wanting to lose her rapier.

Issei landed on his feet, before falling to one knee in pain. His left arm was now out of use, not to mention her rapier had holy qualities so he was burning right now.

Cao Cao and Jeanne seeing this confirmed that Issei was a devil. "A devil, aye. So, you thought you could just come and kill all of us. Although I must commend you, you have dwindled my teams' numbers quite a bit. For that, I will kill you myself." Cao Cao said, rushing forward while Jeanna lagged behind.

Issei and Cao Cao went on to exchange blows, Issei just narrowly dodging them. Issei wasn't able to keep up with it forever however, as Cao Cao landed a blow to his gut with the back end of his spear.

Issei was sent flying back, the air knocked out of his lungs as blood spurt from his mouth. He bounced off the ground several times before landing in a crater.

Bringing himself to his knees, he spat out the blood inside his mouth before wiping the rest off his face with his hand. Vali and his team seeing this, sprung into action, seeing the signal that Issei gave. The signal wiping his face.

It was decided beforehand that the signal for them all to join in was the wiping of his face. Whether it was because of blood, sweat, or tears. That was the signal.

Cao Cao quickly turned around when he heard the sounds of battle behind him. When he did, he saw team Vali behind him. Georg had already been defeated, due to him being at the back by himself and not being physically strong. His abilities didn't have many uses at the moment, so he decided to stay back.

"What the hell is going-" Cao Cao's sentence was cut off midway when he felt a sharp pain in his gut. He looked down to find that Issei sword was in his stomach currently.

"W-What? How?" Cao Cao asked confused, considering he didn't even feel, hear, or sense Issei even move. Which meant, he had to use a speed even higher than before.

"What? Did you really think I was so weak?" Issei said, taking his mask off. "No, no, no. I just didn't want you using your sacred gears other abilities. So, I let you believe my speed was just an ability." Issei said.

"You bastard!" Cao Cao said.

"Yea, yea. The bottom line is, you let your guard down. Because of that, you're going to die." Issei said before using his strength to pull his sword up vertically.

Cao Cao's eyes were set in pure rage forever as his body split down the middle down to his pelvis. He feels over dead in a matter of seconds, his sacred gear disintegrating, being passed on to a new wielder.

Issei looked up just in time to see Kuroka stab her claws through Jeanne's ribcage. Successfully killing off the last of team Cao Cao.

"It's a shame, these people could have been really strong, but they were too stubborn to realize the human body has limits," Issei said. Especially Cao Cao. With the True Longinus, he could have been very strong. His human body, however, was stunting his strength.

"Regardless, the plan was a success. You'll now be able to take over as the number one team in the Khaos Brigade." Issei said.

"Yea, but we barely got to fight. You said we would be fighting the entire Khaos Brigade. Yet, you're the only one that got to have a good fight." Vali said angrily.

"You'll get to fight more soon. We can't just go into this guns blazing. To do this correctly, we have to be careful of the moves we make. Every move is critical." Issei said, understanding what Vali meant, but he simply didn't care all that much.

"Besides, you're the number one team in the Khaos Brigade now. I'm sure you'll get plenty more fights now." Issei said offhandedly. "Now come on, we're leaving."

Issei walked off, heading away from the scene of the crime. Besides, other supernatural creatures and the cops will be here soon because of the blast Issei shot off. He wanted to get away from the area that they killed off the Khaos Brigade before teleporting back to Kuoh.

* * *

Issei sent team Vali back to their duties for the Khaos Brigade in light of what would happen once they found out about what happened to team Cao Cao. Meanwhile, he was going to continue to study and wait for the next part of his plan.

However, that was all halted when he got a call via a magic circle. Issei answered, wondering who it could be. "Hello?" Issei asked.

"Hello? Issei, is that you?" A familiar voice asked from the other line. It was a voice Issei would never be able to forget.

"Asia?" Issei asked, surprised.

"Issei! I'm so glad you picked up; I've missed you very much." Issei couldn't help but flinch when he heard the sadness in her voice.

"Sorry about that Asia. I promise once I'm done with my mission I will come back to the ORC." Issei said although he didn't mention that he had no idea how long until his mission would be over. It could be years before he kills off the entire Khaos Brigade.

"It's fine Issei, I understand. Your mission is very important. But I was calling because I have something to tell you." Asia said.

Issei smiled, thankful for her understanding. "What is it, Asia?"

"Well, tomorrow Rias is having a rating game. I didn't know if you wanted to participate or not, but I thought you should at least know." Asia said.

"Why am I only hearing of this now? I might not be there with you guys at the ORC at the moment, but I said I would still participate in the rating games." Issei said.

"Well, everyone else is mad at you right now," Asia said, Issei getting the picture.

"I see. Regardless, I'll be at the ORC tomorrow. I wouldn't leave you guys to fight a rating game by yourselves." Issei replied. After all, he was Rias' main fighting force.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow Issei!" Asia said, the excitement easily heard over the magic circle.

"Alright, bye," Issei said, hanging up the call. "So, they're still made about me taking this mission. I guess that's understandable." Issei mumbled to himself.

He sometimes wonders if he made the right choice doing this. Was it really necessary to declare a one-man war against the Khaos Brigade?

Shaking his head, he went upstairs and to his room. He could study some other time, for now, he would have to prepare for the oncoming storm that would be meeting his fellow peerage members again after a while.

* * *

The next day and Issei were walking towards the school. He could have just teleported, but he was relatively close so there really wasn't a point. There was quite an uproar amongst the school when they saw Issei walk in through the front gates of Kuoh Academy.

"Is that Issei?" Some random girl asked.

"The perverts back?" The girl next to her asked.

"I thought he got expelled or something." Another person said.

As he expected, everyone started to murmur amongst themselves, making up rumors of where he was all this time. He didn't really understand what the huge deal was though. He had only been gone for like a month.

Issei locked eyes with Sona, who had been walking along the path Issei was taking to the ORC. Most likely she was coming back from wishing everyone good luck on the rating game.

"Hyoudou," Sona said in greeting.

"Sona. Nice to see you again." Issei replied.

Sona disregarded him not calling her Kaichou, not really caring. After all, she knew it was most likely just his pride as a dragon. "I didn't expect to see you here," Sona replied, a hint of venom in her voice.

Issei just kept walking, however, not really caring to take offense to her dig. "I would never abandon those I love," Issei said simply as he continued his walk to the ORC.

Sona couldn't help but stare at Issei's back as he continued walking. Even from here, she could feel the strength he exerted. It was a feeling he had only felt from the likes of her sister and the other Mauo. Issei was strong, that was for sure. And with the boosted gear, he could possibly be the strongest person in the entire Underworld. She also couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips. It was nice to know that he still cared about the ORC, despite all the actions he had been taking recently.

She kept watching until he disappeared behind the front doors of the ORC.

Inside of the ORC, Rias and everyone was discussing their plan for the rating game against Diodora Astaroth, heir to the Astaroth house. Asia, however, was preoccupied with constantly taking excited glances towards the doors to the ORC.

"What is going on with you Asia? You seem distracted." Rias asked Asia.

Asia blushed at being called out and started poking her fingers together. "Well, u-ummm you see, I ummm, might have told-"Her sentence stopped when everyone heard the door to the ORC start to open.

Everyone looked to the door, curious, except Asia who looked at it in excitement. They were shocked however when it was Issei who walked in. "Issei?!" Everyone shouted in surprise.

"Yo!" Issei replied casually, giving a one-handed wave. He was interrupted however by a yellow blur that crashed into him.

That blue would be Asia, shedding tears as she hugged Issei for dear life. Issei's eyes widened for a second, before turning soft, a warm smile gracing his face. "I missed you too Asia," Issei said returning the hug.

Asia looked up at him with teary eyes. "Issei! I'm so glad your back!" Asia said, reburying her face into his chest, relishing in the presence of Issei, her first friend.

The heartwarming reunion was interrupted however by a rather heated statement. "Issei, what are you doing here? I thought we weren't important enough for you." Rias said her arms crossed under her chest, her face set in a scowl. The others were also upset with him, but it was Rias who was the most furious.

"I'm here because you guys are participating in a rating game. There's no way I would miss it." Issei said, looking at them all.

Rias however just grunted and looked the other way. "Says the one that abandoned us all," Rias said heatedly.

Issei's face was instantly set into a frown. "Is that what you think I did? That I abandoned you all?" Issei whispered.

"Well, what do you expect us to feel like? We thought we were all happy, but then out of nowhere you go and have yourself temporarily removed from the peerage and left us to go on some mission! Without even telling us first!" Rias said. Issei couldn't help but agree in some sense, considering he did do that, but he did not abandon them.

"And you think I did that because I wasn't happy because you weren't all important to me?!" Issei spoke in a raised voice. "If you really think that then you're stupid!" Issei said, making most of them angrier.

Before any of them had the chance to retaliate, he continued to rant. "The truth is that there isn't a single place in the universe I'd rather be than here! This is my home, where my family is, where you guys are!" Issei, this time yelled.

"Well then why did you leave us?!" The one who yelled surprised everyone, this time being Koneko. No longer able to hold in her feelings, as when Issei left she felt like she was going through the same thing she did with Kuroka.

Issei calmed down slightly, gathering his thoughts before voicing his reason. "When I watched Irina die, someone, I cared for, murdered right in front of me, something inside me broke. I don't know what did, but it did. Afterword's, I realized I was weak. Too weak to accomplish what I wanted, and that was protecting all of you." Issei said, looking down at the floor.

"And then after the incident with Loki, I realized that because of me, everyone here was a target. The entire Khaos Brigade wanted me either dead or to join them, all because of my sacred gear. So when the thought of someone else dying, but this time because of me, something inside me broke again." Most of the people were looking at Issei softer now, beginning to understand his reasons for leaving.

"When I left, it was to get stronger. So, when the day comes that someone truly strong comes looking for me when someone seeks out my power, I'd be strong enough to protect you all. No matter who the opponent was." Issei said passionately.

Although they weren't as angry as before, they still held some anger for him leaving. "Yet, despite all that, you didn't stop to consider how much it hurt us when you left," Rias said the same hurt she was talking about heavy in her voice.

Issei flinched at that. Of course, he had thought about that, it was one of the reasons he doubted if asking Asmodeus for his mission was the right choice. In the end, he always thought that growing stronger, and eliminating the main threat to the underworld, and by proxy, all of them was more important.

Issei looked at them all apologetically, Asia still buried deep within his chest, sobbing. "Look, I'm sorry if I hurt you all, it wasn't my intention. I never wanted to hurt any of you. You guys are my family, there isn't anybody more important to me in this world." Issei said.

"But I also can't promise you all that I will always be here. There are times when you have to give up on one thing to preserve another. In this case, I had to give up being here, with you guys, in order to preserve, and guarantee you guys stayed alive, unharmed."

"Look, if you want me to leave, I will. But know that I will never abandon you. In your times of need, I will always be there. Even if I have to go through heaven and hell." Issei said, finishing his rant.

There was silence for a while before suddenly, Akeno joined in the hug Asia and Issei were sharing, followed by Koneko, then Irina, Kiba, Xenovia, then finally Rias. "Of course, we don't want you to leave. No matter how mad we get at you, you will always be family. And you never abandon family." Rias said, tears falling out of her eyes.

"Thank you," Issei said gratefully. It was nice to be here again, with the people he loved, even if it was only for the rating game, and then he would return to his mission.

"Now, come on, we have a rating game to win," Rias said, a smile plastered on her face.

Everyone broke away from the hug, and with a chorus of "Right!", everyone went back to planning their strategy for the rating game.

* * *

 **Now first, some people said that I have strayed away from the romance aspect of the story everyone was promised. I can assure you, however, I have not. There are just some things I have to get out of the way before I focus on the romance aspect. For right now, I'm building Issei's character first, and then I'm going to build upon Serafall's character, then finally build upon their relationship.**

 **Second, a lot of people are saying they want me to keep Issei OP. Now I can't stress this enough, but Issei will be considered OP for DxD characters. There won't be a single character in DxD strong enough to rival him in time. However, I'm going to add OC villains that won't challenge him physically, but also mentally. One such will be introduced very soon and will force Issei to his breaking point, and be an essential key to the other OCs.**


End file.
